Thundera Joins the Republic and Jedi
by Balin Lord of Moria
Summary: After learning of the Mutants' voyage to the galaxy far, far away, the ThunderCats and several of their allies follow them and land on Coruscant, where they hear about the Separatist Crisis, swear to help the Jedi in life and death, and fight in the Clone Wars on the Republic's side. Justice, truth, honor, and loyalty in a corrupt Republic.
1. Introduction to the Jedi

**A/N:** This is another part of my fan fiction series that runs in conjunction with **Plun-Darr Joins the Confederacy** in my _ThunderCats/Star Wars: The Clone Wars_ universe. In it, the ThunderCats and some of their allies from Third Earth follow the Mutants and the Lunataks to the galaxy far, far away, although they land in Coruscant instead of Geonosis, and join forces with the Jedi and the Republic army in the Clone Wars. In the near future, one more fan fiction in conjunction with these two will be started, and it will involve Mumm-Ra, Ma-Mutt, and the Ancient Spirits of Evil siding with the Order of the Sith Lords, Darth Sidious and Darth Tyranus.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own _ThunderCats_ or _Star Wars: The Clone Wars_. Dave Filoni and Disney own _The Clone Wars_, and Rankin/Bass owns _ThunderCats_.

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><p><em><strong>Introduction to the Jedi<strong>_

Master Yoda, Grand Master of the Jedi Order, was just recovering from the effects of Anakin Skywalker's emotional suffering as the younger Jedi slaughtered a Tusken Raider camp to avenge his dead mother, when another, even stranger disturbance in the Force began to trouble him. Well, not exactly a disturbance; it was more like a surge in the Force, like something unusual was happening in the stream that was the Force, or perhaps, as if someone was coming to Coruscant from a faraway place in a most unexpected way.

It was almost time to check up on Obi-Wan Kenobi's mission of tracking the bounty hunter, Jango Fett, to his next destination, and Supreme Chancellor Palpatine had insisted that he, Mas Amedda, Sly Moore, and a few senators listen in on the Jedi Knight's progress, too. But first, he wished for some of his fellow Jedi to know about what he had just felt, so that they wouldn't be caught completely unawares when whatever was going to happen occurred. He stood in a room with such Jedi as Mace Windu, Stass Allie, Plo Koon, Ki-Adi-Mundi, Aayla Secura, Luminara Unduli, her Padawan Barriss Offee, Kit Fisto, and Roan Shryne, and addressed them.

"My Jedi friends," Yoda said, "A surge in the Force, I have felt. Know exactly what it is, I do not, yet, but sense that visitors there will be, I do. Appear in the Temple, or in the Chancellor's office, I believe the Force is telling me they will."

The Jedi looked perplexed. "Master Yoda," said Plo Koon, "You are telling us that unlooked-for visitors are coming to Coruscant, and wish to visit the Jedi Temple first?"

"In part, yes, Master Plo," said Yoda, "But tell me, the Force does, that these visitors are coming here unintentionally. And tell me, the Force does, that they will be beings of good will and honor, so worry about them coming from the Separatists, we most likely will not."

Aayla, Barriss, and Luminara looked at each other curiously. Stass Allie also shared a look with Kit Fisto, who shrugged and smiled.

Mace Windu said, "Well, we can never be too certain that these visitors mean well. Master Yoda always does tell many of his charges that they are too sure of themselves. But Master Yoda's word should always be trusted by the Jedi, so I say we wait and watch, and find out for ourselves who these newcomers are."

"Well said, that is, Master Windu," said Yoda.

The other Jedi nodded their agreement.

* * *

><p>At Cat's Lair on Third Earth, the ThunderCats were all observing the countryside by the Lair, keeping an eye out for danger signs as well as the general beauty of the planet. The elder ThunderCats were at the controls in the monitor room, while the younger ones stood back and observed.<p>

"It's unusually quiet on Third Earth today, don't you think?" Lord Lion-O said to his friends.

"I couldn't agree more, Lion-O," said Tygra, "For some time, there's been no sign of trouble from the Mutants, the Lunataks, or Mumm-Ra. And no one else seems interested in challenging the peace, either. Not that I'm complaining or anything, but it's still unusual."

"Well, that might make it a good day for me to do some more mechanical work on the ThunderTank and our other vehicles," said Panthro, "My baby could sure use some touching up."

"If today is that uneventful," suggested WilyKat hopefully, "Maybe WilyKit and I could go for a spin on our Space Boards today."

"No, not just yet, WilyKat," said Cheetara, "We want to be sure that the area is safe and secure before you and Kit go off on another daring ride around the planet."

"Aw, shucks," said WilyKat. WilyKit looked like she agreed.

"Snarf! You two should always remember that your elders know better than you do when it's safe to go for a joy ride and when it isn't," said Snarf, the diminutive beast-like friend of the ThunderCats.

"That _is_ good advice, ThunderKittens," said blind Lynx-O from his own computer, "We are a team, and part of that teamwork is that we all look out for each other."

"That's right!" said little Snarfer, Snarf's nephew, "We Snarfs always know when to have each other's backs!" He fell off the tip of his tail and tumbled to the floor.

The ThunderCats laughed at that, except for Snarf. "You should learn from your elders too, Snarfer," he gently admonished his nephew. "How else do you expect to survive all this time on a beautiful but harsh planet?"

"Aw, Uncle Osbert!" Snarfer began, then corrected himself when Snarf frowned at him, "I mean, aw, Uncle Snarf! You have no sense of humor!"

"That's not true!" said Snarf, "I think a lot of things are very funny! You want we to give you a few examples?"

"I'm afraid that'll have to wait, Snarf," said Cheetara, who had noticed a call coming in from the Tower of Omens.

Snarf blinked. "Trouble, Cheetara?"

"We don't know yet," Cheetara admitted. She connected the telescreen to the Tower of Omens, the other home and watch-point of the ThunderCats, where Pumyra and Ben-Gali were stationed, and soon, the two young ThunderCats were there on-screen.

"Pumyra? Ben-Gali? Is something wrong?" Lion-O asked them.

"Possibly," said Ben-Gali, "Willa and Nayda of the Warrior Maidens just rushed over here to tell us about a mysterious disappearance of the Mutants and the Lunataks, or something."

"A disappearance?" Lion-O echoed. "What do you mean? What happened?"

Pumyra said, "I think they can explain it a little better than we can, Lion-O. Willa, Nayda, you can tell them all about it."

The two beautiful sisters who led the Warrior Maidens appeared on-screen. "Lion-O! Everyone!" said Nayda, "Thank goodness we got a hold of you! Willa and I were out doing a routine scouting of the Warrior Maidens' territory an hour ago, when we suddenly saw all of the Mutant vehicles except the Fist Pounder go into a huge, unexplored cave we had never noticed on our borders before. We don't know why we never saw it before, though."

"A cave?" asked Panthro, "And the Mutant vehicles all fit inside it with the Mutants themselves, even that blasted Flying Machine Vultureman always pilots?"

"Yes, and the RatStar!" Nayda confirmed, "It's like-"

"It's like the Mutants, and possibly also the Lunataks, are up to no good again," interrupted Willa, "Nayda and I silently followed them through the cave to see where they thought they were going. Then, suddenly, some black, blue, and white hole appeared where the cave stopped. It must have been some kind of magical wormhole, and the Mutants must have known it, because they all just flew into it without flinching, and disappeared! I told Nayda that I was going to take a peek into the hole and see where it went, and for her to hold my arm and pull me back after I saw enough to ensure I wouldn't be lost in the hole. And what I saw was astounding. It looked like the Mutants had ended up on some kind of barren desert world with giant insects flying around carrying sonic cannons. Then the landscape changed, and I thought I saw a strange city-world with gleaming buildings and heavy air traffic, not the sort of place for a Warrior Maiden to be normally."

The ThunderCats listened with amazement and astonishment in their ears and eyes. "You mean, the Mutants, and probably also the Lunataks, have gone to another world far, far away from Third Earth, and we don't know what they're up to?"

"Basically, yes, Lion-O!" said Willa.

"Maybe the Sword of Omens can tell us something about where the Mutants are and what they're doing," Lion-O said. He unsheathed the Sword from his Claw Shield and held the Eye of Thundera up to his eyes. "Sword of Omens, give me sight beyond sight!"

Lion-O beheld the planet of Geonosis. He saw the conference room where Count Dooku of the Separatist Alliance was discussing the affairs of the C.I.S. with a room full of well-dressed, alien businessmen and merchants. Then it showed him that the Mutants and the Lunataks were also there, standing or sitting around the conference table with the others, and he saw a close-up of a treaty on a datapad. Many unfamiliar names were signed on it, but he did recognize the names of all the Mutants and all the Lunataks. Then the vision changed, and Lion-O saw the city-world Willa had spoken of, and he saw things he couldn't yet place names on. He saw the Galactic Senate, the Supreme Chancellor, a goofy-looking Representative who looked amphibious, and a sizeable group of similarly dressed people with some kind of technological sword hilts attached to their belts. One was diminutive and very old, and walked with the aid of a curved walking stick.

"Willa is right," announced Lion-O, "The Mutants and the Lunataks _are_ on a desert planet, and they signed some sort of treaty with a bunch of businessmen to join some sort of alliance with an old man dressed in black, and they looked like they were looking forward to it. And there _is_ some kind of city planet, too, with what look like senators in a giant chamber, their leader, and some strange but serene people dressed mostly in monastic robes looking very concerned about something."

"Those miserable Mutants thought they could give us the slip," remarked WilyKit, "The nerve of them! They can't escape the ThunderCats! Everyone knows that, including them."

"Snarf! WilyKit," said Snarf, "Those Mutants _are_ a nuisance, but think about it; they never learn from their mistakes. They always make it easy on us when it comes to defeating them."

"But what about the Lunataks?" asked Tygra, "They're faster learners than the Mutants, and their natural talents are powerful enough to rival ours."

"I wonder if Mumm-Ra is also involved in this," said Panthro.

"Wherever the Mutants and the Lunataks go, Mumm-Ra cannot be far behind," said Lynx-O. "Tell me, Lion-O, how many threats has Third Earth had in recent times, apart from the attacks of Mumm-Ra and the Mutants and Lunataks?"

"Hmm, very few, I think," said Lion-O. "Third Earth hasn't had very many threats outside of Mumm-Ra and Plun-Darr lately."

"And we do have allies who might be willing to help us look after Third Earth in our absence, right?"

"Yes, we do, Lynx-O. Wait, what are you suggesting?"

"From what you have told us about your vision in the Sword of Omens," said Lynx-O, "this sort of problem might need all of our ThunderCat strength, even if the people from this far away galaxy have their own military technology. I am thinking that we should all go to this cave and attempt to make the jump to this mysterious galaxy, to help them fight the Mutants and Lunataks, and Mumm-Ra, if he is there."

"All of us?" said WilyKit, "Does that even include WilyKat and I?" She sounded eager.

"And does that also include Uncle Snarf and I?" inquired Snarfer.

"Yes, it does," said Lynx-O.

"Yippee! We get to have some real fun, Uncle Snarf!" shouted Snarfer. The ThunderKittens clapped their hands together.

"Now, now, kids," said Cheetara, "This is almost certainly going to be a serious mission. We can't let ourselves get carried away with the prospect of having fun. Besides, my sixth sense is hinting to me that this crisis we're going into is bigger than anything the ThunderCats have ever faced before."

"Yeah, that's probably true," admitted WilyKat, "But Kit and I can still look for ways to get the most out of our time there, can't we?"

"Yes, you can, as far as I'm concerned," said Lion-O, "Though I would still watch my back very carefully if I were one of you two. So that settles it, then. Willa, do you recommend that we bring along any of our allies from Third Earth to help us, as well?"

"Well, I was thinking of going along, Lion-O," Willa said, "Because you'll need a guide to find the cave and the wormhole. Nayda has agreed to stay on Third Earth and guard the Warrior Maiden village. And I do think we could use a little more help, too."

"All right, then," mused Lion-O, "I think we should bring along some able-bodied fighters who can adapt well to many situations. I would recommend that we bring along Hachiman, Turmagar and his Gomplin friend, Mandora the Evil Chaser, if she's willing and has the time to spare, and maybe also Mumm-Rana. We'll need her aid if we end up meeting Mumm-Ra on the other side. Other people, like the other Warrior Maidens, the other Tuskas, and Snowman and Snowmeow, should remain here with Nayda and help to protect Third Earth. And I also think we should bring along as many ThunderCat vehicles as we can. I'd recommend the Feliner, the Whisker, the Kids' Space Boards, the Hovercat, the ThunderClaw, and of course, the ThunderTank."

"I was hoping you'd say that," grinned Panthro, "What would any adventure be without the ThunderTank?"

"And do not forget," said Lynx-O, "I wish to have at least one braille board handy to help me know what I'm doing."

"We'll do better than that," said Lion-O, "We'll bring along three braille boards."

"Then I guess we'd better not waste any more time," said Cheetara. "Let's all get going, before the Mutants and Lunataks have too much of a head start on us!"

"All right," said Tygra, "Ben-Gali, Pumyra, you follow Willa. Willa, tell us how to get to this cave you found. We'll meet you there with everyone who's willing to come."

"Right away, Tygra!" said Ben-Gali.

The ThunderCats put their right hands together and shouted their battle cry: "ThunderCats! Ho!"

* * *

><p>As they were preparing to go, not very surprisingly, Lion-O was paid a visit from the spirit of his old ThunderCat mentor, Jaga the Wise.<p>

"Lion-O," said the wise old man, "You and your friends must know what you are getting yourselves into by going to this other galaxy."

"I know, Jaga," said Lion-O, "But we've faced the Mutants and the Lunataks so many times, they've become almost predictable enemies."

"It is not the warriors of Plun-Darr you should be the most worried about, young Lord," Jaga said, "There are many forces for evil in this destination of yours. And there are also many people who may seem evil, but actually have much more goodness in them than even you know, and the same goes for many people who may seem good, but are actually very corrupt and devoted to evil ways."

"So what do you recommend, Jaga?" asked Lion-O.

"Always keep your eyes and ears open, and do not be too fast to judge or speak to people you do not know," said Jaga, "And make certain that the other ThunderCats and your other allies know this, as well. Something dark and evil is clouding even my vision of the affairs of evil in that galaxy, and it may turn out to be much worse than anything even Mumm-Ra can conjure up. Always be mindful of this, Lord Lion-O, and perhaps, just perhaps, you will prevail one day against these sinister forces." Jaga grabbed his long cape and cast it around his spirit/body, as he always did when leaving Lion-O, and disappeared.

"Jaga!" cried Lion-O. He always felt like he needed to know more than what Jaga told him each time he paid him a visit. But the old sage's advice was very good advice, nonetheless, and he made sure to let everyone else know about it as they got ready to go.

* * *

><p>It didn't take them too long to find the cave. Hachiman and Turmagar had been surprised to hear that they were going on such a mission, but they agreed to it with little hesitation. Mandora said that her superiors told her that if this mission meant chasing and defeating evil enemies, then she was welcome to come along and aid the ThunderCats, too. Mumm-Rana had said that she could come, too, but that she would come by her own means. She wished to teleport the White Pyramid to the city world they were going to with the help of the Ancient Spirits of Goodness, because she would still need time to recharge her powers in her sarcophagus between battles and adventures. Inside, all the vehicles fit comfortably, even the Whisker and Turmagar's Gomplin. They flew through the dark interior of the cave, until they came to the same wormhole that the Mutants had used.<p>

"Be prepared, everyone," said Lion-O, "We don't know exactly where this hole in space and time is going to drop us off."

All his friends agreed with him.

They plunged into the magic hole, and soon they were in the ethereal field that looked like they were traveling through hyperspace. This went on for about two minutes, and then…

They emerged in the sky over a huge city where there were gleaming skyscrapers and technology everywhere to be seen. Down below, there was, though they didn't know it yet, the Senate Rotunda, and Chancellor Palpatine's office, and directly below, was the Jedi Temple, standing strong and mighty in the near-center of the city.

Of course, the ThunderTank didn't have the ability to fly, and it quickly plummeted toward the ziggurat of the Temple's outer structure. Snarf and Snarfer screamed. "A little help here, ThunderCats?" Panthro shouted.

Cheetara flew down in the ThunderClaw, which was a lot stronger than it looked, and caught the ThunderTank in mid-air.

"Thanks, Cheetara," said Panthro.

"Yeah, Cheetara, you're a lifesaver!" said Snarf.

"Any time," said Cheetara.

The ThunderKittens almost flew into a Coruscant taxi. The Bothan driver yelled, "Watch where you're going, kiddies! This isn't any racetrack! And you're going the wrong way!"

"Whoa! Talk about an attitude problem!" said WilyKit.

"You said it, WilyKit," said WilyKat.

"Technically, that driver has a point, kids," said Mandora from the Electro Charger, "If the Interplanetary Control Force had its jurisdiction in this part of the universe, I would have pursued and ticketed you for such reckless flying."

"Yeah, but you're outside your jurisdiction, Mandora, remember?" said WilyKit.

"That _could_ change after we're (hopefully) warmly welcomed here," Mandora countered.

WilyKat blinked. "Touché," he said.

None of the ThunderCats were sure of the proper way to land their ships by the Temple. But suddenly, it felt like some kind of invisible force was guiding their ships downward, toward several landing platforms outside the Temple, where several exotic starfighters were parked. They all landed safely, and left their vehicles.

Outside one of the doors waited a little, but very old, wizened alien with a curved walking stick. He looked like he had the weight of the galaxy on his shoulders, but he also looked like he was a man with a good sense of humor and contentedness. Beside him stood a dark-skinned human man with a grim, but courteous, expression on his face.

"Welcome you strangers to Coruscant, I do," the little elven alien said.

The ThunderCats and their allies, except for Lynx-O, whose eyes were always closed due to his blindness, blinked. Evidently, they were surprised to hear a sentence said with the words and meaning rearranged like that.

The little alien chuckled. "Worry not, friends," he said, "Perfectly natural to speak this way, it is, for my species and I. Master Yoda, I am, Grand Master of the Jedi Order. Behind me, Master Mace Windu stands."

"May the Force be with you," Mace said to them, giving them a friendly bow.

Lion-O looked interested in that. "The Force? I'm afraid no ThunderCat has ever heard of that before, including me. If you'll forgive my curiosity, what is it?"

Mace and Yoda looked a little surprised that these visitors hadn't heard of the Force. "The whole story of the Force is a very long one, and one that no one knows in its entirety," said Mace, "But to put it very brief, the Force is a mystical energy field that surrounds and penetrates all of us, and binds the galaxy together. Life creates it, and in return, it sustains life, and takes it away when it deems it necessary. It is impersonal, but it has its own will, by which it judges all the affairs of the galaxy, if not the entire universe, and we Jedi Knights are able to feel and manipulate it to maintain peace and justice in the Galactic Republic, which Coruscant is the government seat of."

"Well said, Master Windu," said Yoda. "Perhaps another time, tell you more about it, I may be able to. But for now, come inside. On our way to the Supreme Chancellor's office, we are, to discuss the affairs of this Separatist Crisis, and meet some other Jedi, you will be able to on the way."

"Oh, that would be neat!" said Snarf, "Right now, I'd rather meet more friends than enemies, snarf, snarf!"

"Me too, Uncle Snarf!" said Snarfer.

"It looks like the fun's already beginning!" said WilyKit.

"Yeah, I wonder what it'll be like," said WilyKat.

Mace looked un-amused by the Snarfs' and the ThunderKittens' banter, possibly accounting to some stress he must have been under, Cheetara thought, but Yoda chuckled again, despite the precariousness of the crisis they were in. Apparently, he still retained a sense of humor.

* * *

><p>The ThunderCats and their friends had been first introduced to the same Jedi that Yoda had been speaking with earlier. The Jedi certainly found the cat-like humanoids to be interesting creatures. Master Allie and Padawan Offee wondered if they were near-human, like the Tholothians and the Mirialans. After the meetings, the Jedi took the ThunderCats to the Chancellor's office in the Rotunda.<p>

Chancellor Palpatine blinked for a moment when he saw the ThunderCats enter with the Jedi, but otherwise, he betrayed no real surprise at their presence. Mas Amedda, though, looked at them with naked surprise. Senators Bail Organa, Ask Aak, and Jar Jar Binks sized them up for several seconds. Sly Moore seemed to be probing them for information on their thoughts and feelings, or at least, that's what Cheetara's sixth sense told her.

"Ah, hello again, my friends," said Palpatine kindly, "You are just in time. We have heard that young Obi-Wan Kenobi is about to send in a report of his progress on his pursuit of the bounty hunter, Jango Fett. Ah, and it looks like you brought along some friends. Strange looking friends, I might add."

Ask Aak, the three-eyed alien senator, asked, "Yes, who are these weird people, exactly? They don't look like they're from this galaxy. In fact, they almost look like they're from the Separatists! Am I right, or am I wrong?"

Mace Windu spoke for Lion-O and the others. "These are the ThunderCats, Chancellor," he said, introducing each of them and their several friends in turn. "They have come from someplace very far away from here, and they told us that they are pursuing enemies they call the Mutants and the Lunataks. They are also willing to help out the Republic and the Jedi in case the Mutants and Lunataks have sided with the Separatists."

"Ah, that is better news," said Palpatine, smiling, "We could use every helping hand we could get at a time like this."

"Thank you, Chancellor," said Lion-O, offering his hand for shaking, "We will do everything we can to help the Jedi and the Republic if it means that we can get a shot at stopping our old enemies from leaving a mark on the galaxy."

They shook hands.

"And I hope that I can lend a hand in enforcing the law in this galaxy," said Mandora, stepping forward, "I work with the Interplanetary Control Force back where I come from, and as an Evil Chaser, it's my job to apprehend and lock up perpetrators who don't want to see justice served."

"Very good, very good to hear," said Palpatine.

"Yes, good," said Aak, "That way, maybe Malastare can have better protection if war does break out."

Bail Organa, the human senator, hesitated for a moment, but then he could see that there was a sense of nobility in these people, and he offered his thanks, as well. "Yes, it is good," he said, offering his hand to Mandora, "Alderaan is a beautiful place that can use its own share of protection, although I still hope that we do not go to war."

"Yes, meeessaa agreeeeing with ya, toooo!" said Jar Jar, the amphibious Representative from Naboo. "Naboo be needing all the help it can get, toooo!"

Snarfer snickered at the Gungan's funny speech, but Snarf pinched his tail and told him to stop it, saying that the representative probably had feelings, just like anybody else.

It was about then that the call they had all been waiting for from Obi-Wan Kenobi came in. A small hologram in the middle of the room was activated, and a young human man, dressed like a Jedi and with a short, well-trimmed beard, appeared and began to speak.

"I have tracked the bounty hunter Jango Fett to Geonosis, where it turns out he is allied with Count Dooku and his Separatists. The Commerce Guilds and the Trade Federation have allied their droid armies with each other, and it is now clear that Viceroy Gunray of the Federation is responsible for the assassination attempts on Senator Amidala. What is stranger, however, is that a small group of unknown aliens has suddenly allied themselves with the Separatists, as well. Some of them are very pale skinned, and have mysterious powers that don't seem to stem from the Force, and the rest look like they are part man, and part animal."

Here the ThunderCats stirred a little, but didn't say anything yet. They knew that their suspicions about the Mutants and Lunataks were now confirmed. And it sounded from what Obi-Wan was saying like the Separatists had countless powerful weapons to back up their military. _This might turn out to be a lot harder than we thought,_ mused Lion-O.

They came back to the present when they heard Obi-Wan suddenly say something about a clone army on the planet Kamino. Lion-O wondered why a clone army would be being created from this Jango Fett character. Obi-Wan suddenly said, "Wait. Wait!" He ignited his lightsaber and started to deflect blaster bolts being fired in his direction. Soon, a Droideka waddled into view of the hologram. Then the hologram winked out. No one could tell what had happened to Obi-Wan.

Tygra stirred. "We knew that the Mutants and Lunataks would've had to be involved in this!"

"Yes," said Ben-Gali, growling, "It sounds like these Separatists are up to no good!"

Jar Jar cringed slightly at Ben-Gali's growl, even though it wasn't directed at him.

"The Commerce Guilds and Corporate Alliance have geared themselves up for war, that much is certain," said Bail.

"Count Dooku must have made a treaty with them," said Palpatine.

"The debate is over," said Aak, "Now we need that clone army."

Bail frowned at him and said, "Unfortunately, the debate is not over. The Senate will never approve the use of clones in an army!"

"I concur with Senator Organa," said Lynx-O, "Making a massive number of clones is too dangerous a business, especially if they have been trained for fighting, and not much else. Even if these clones do respect and serve us well-"

"I don't recall anyone asking your opinion, blind stranger," said Aak, "You know about as much about the affairs of this galaxy as Sebulba the cheating podracer knows about playing fair."

"And just where did you learn your manners, Senator Aak?" Lynx-O asked sternly.

Aak just blubbered in frustration.

"This is a crisis," said Mas Amedda suddenly, "Someone must stand up and make a decision for what must be done about it, and it must be a senator, of course," he added, looking at the Jedi and the ThunderCats.

Palpatine nodded and said, "But what senator would be willing to get up and take a stand at a time like this?"

"If only…Senator Amidala were here," Amedda said. Palpatine nodded again.

Jar Jar was looking very thoughtful.

* * *

><p>A short while later, the ThunderCats witnessed Jar Jar Binks talk in his funny voice about how there was clearly a crisis set in motion, and that the senate's emergency powers must be given to the Supreme Chancellor. Most of the senators cheered that. Amedda called for order in the chamber. Snarfer was almost too busy giggling to notice Jar Jar's words.<p>

"Is it supposed to happen this way?" Lion-O asked Mace and Yoda, who were standing with him and his friends.

"No," said Mace, "The Jedi are supposed to be keepers of the peace, not soldiers, as I told the chancellor very recently. The Jedi Order was always meant to be monastic, first and foremost, and to serve the Force, not to fight in bloody wars unless absolutely necessary. And even then, we take no pleasure in it."

"Then I can only imagine what sorts of trouble the Jedi are going to get into, especially if this war draws out without an end in sight," said Turmagar.

"No matter!" said Hachiman boldly, "We are all warriors at heart, and we can all help you Jedi where your morals cannot allow you to act. The Code of Bushido, as well as the ThunderCats' Code of Thundera, give us the honor we need to stand and fight as noble warriors, and the Thunder-Cutter," he said, holding up his sword, "is just as lethal in battle as Lion-O-san's Sword of Omens."

"Good to hear, that is," said Yoda, "And perhaps, useful to fight our battles with us, this clone army will be."

Supreme Chancellor Palpatine stood up and announced his reluctance to take the powers, and that he loved democracy and the Republic. He also promised to lay down these powers when the crisis was over, and said that as his first act with his new authority, he would create a Grand Army of the Republic, to counter the increasing threats of the Separatists.

"It is done, then," said a resigned Mace. "I will take what able-bodied Jedi are available and go to rescue Kenobi, Skywalker, and Amidala on Geonosis."

"We'll all go with you, Mace," said Panthro.

"Yes, I'd like to help, too," said Pumyra.

"No, not yet," said Mace, "If these Mutants and Lunataks are there, you'll raise their red flags too quickly, and they might put up a fiercer fight. I'd suggest you wait until this Army of the Republic is ready, and then come to Geonosis as backup, to surprise your enemies."

"Go with me, they may," said Yoda, "Visit, I will, the planet Kamino, and see this army they have for the Republic."

"Very well, then," said Lion-O, "We'll go with Master Yoda and the clone army. It couldn't hurt to meet the clones, too, anyway."

"May the Force be with you," Mace said before leaving.

"And with you, as well," said Lion-O.

There was a very brief hint of a smile on Mace's stern face. It seemed the ThunderCats were already starting to understand a few Jedi customs. Yoda smiled, too.


	2. The Battle of Geonosis

**_The Battle of Geonosis_**

The ThunderCats had been quite fascinated by the clone army on Kamino. Apparently, they grew at an accelerated rate, twice as fast as a normal human, they were totally obedient and loyal to orders, and they were the best of the best at fighting in combat. This had especially interested the ThunderKittens as they, the older ThunderCats, Yoda, and the clone troopers rode to Geonosis in their Republic Assault Ships.

"I think it's a miracle that the science of this galaxy could create such things as these clone troops, Lion-O," said WilyKat.

"Yeah, and think about it," said WilyKit, "They all look the same, even their armor looks mostly the same, a blank white. I hope somebody figures out an easier way to tell them apart soon, or we won't know which clone we're addressing."

"Let's hope that ends up being the case, WilyKit," said Lion-O. "Well, it looks like we're almost there."

They looked out of the window slats on the doors of the Republic gunships they rode in as they disembarked from the assault ships.

"A battle, there is, down in that arena," said Yoda, "Died, many Jedi have, already. Strange creatures fight with them, as well. Like animal men and giant trolls, they look."

Snarf wrinkled his nose. "That would be the Mutants and the Lunataks, Master Yoda," he said, "I hope these brave soldiers are ready for the sorts of tricks these guys can pull off. Snarf! Snarf!"

"Not specifically trained, they are," admitted Yoda, "But well prepared, they are, for almost any threat. Ready to fight them, I believe they are."

"That's good enough for me," said Ben-Gali, "Let's get ourselves ready, too."

"Pilot," said Panthro to the clone pilot of the gunship, "Guide the gunship down to that arena, and tell the other pilots to do the same, before Dooku finishes off our new friends! The rest of you, get ready to fight!"

"Good," said one anonymous clone, "I've been waiting for my first opportunity to fight!"

Panthro looked at him. "Guy's got gusto, all right."

"I'll say," said Pumyra, "But battle is still not something to crave in my opinion. I almost feel sorry for him. He could get in big trouble in this battle."

"Possibly," said Yoda, "But for here and now, concentrate on this conflict, we must. To think too much, is to not focus on the task at hand, as Master Qui-Gon always said."

"True," said Lion-O. "Let's stop the small talk for now, friends. He's right. We need to concentrate on the task at hand if we're to rescue those people."

"A wise decision, Lion-O," remarked Lynx-O.

They were close enough to see exactly what was happening. The Mutants, the Lunataks, and numerous robots with guns that looked like they were specially crafted for battle, surrounded a few dozen Jedi Knights and a senator with a stolen blaster in her hand. Ratar-O and a couple of slimy-looking aliens stood on a balcony with Count Dooku himself. Dooku was getting ready to execute all of them. The ThunderCats and Yoda knew that it was now or never.

The gunships swiftly lowered into the arena. Dooku and the droids looked up in apparent surprise as the ThunderCats came out of the gunships with some of the clone troops. The Mutants and the Lunataks looked shocked and appalled, to say the least. Lion-O leaped out of his gunship and jumped toward Dooku's balcony. Ratar-O almost screamed, and so did the green aliens, but the Count just raised one of his hands. Then Lion-O, to his surprise, felt some invisible force pushing him backward, away from the balcony and on the ground. He quickly got up and aimed the Sword of Omens at the Mutants.

"Ho!" he shouted. A blast of energy shot out of the blade's tip and sent the Mutants reeling, literally.

The other ThunderCats jumped out of the gunships and began to engage the Mutants and the Lunataks themselves. Panthro split Slithe's axe in two. Tygra bested Monkian. Cheetara gave Vultureman a shock from her staff. The ThunderKittens gave Jackalman a hard time. The newer ThunderCats, Lynx-O, Pumyra, and Ben-Gali, fended off the angered Lunataks.

During this time, Snarf and Snarfer had taken an interest in a couple of cute looking droids that didn't seem to be owned or used by the Separatists. One was squat with a domed head, and the other was humanoid with a blank expression on its face. It looked like the little blue one was fixing the head of the humanoid one.

"Uh, hey guys," said Snarfer, "Whatcha doing here in the middle of a battle?"

R2-D2 merely beeped and whistled in Binary, a language that the two Snarfs didn't understand.

"Snarf! How about him?" asked Snarf, referring to the other droid, "Is he going to be okay?"

Artoo whistled in the affirmative.

"I don't know what you said, exactly," said Snarf, "But I'll assume it's a 'yes.' Snarf! Snarf!"

Artoo looked at the two little furry Snarfs and decided he liked them already. He just hoped that Threepio would feel the same way when he woke up.

Meanwhile, the gunships created a perimeter around all the survivors. As the battle droids were destroyed and the Mutants and Lunataks dispersed, the ThunderCats and the Jedi began to board the gunships again. Mace got on one gunship with Ki-Adi-Mundi, Kit Fisto, Plo Koon, Tygra, and Lynx-O. Luminara Unduli, Shaak Ti, and Aayla Secura were among those who got on another gunship with Cheetara and Pumyra. Lion-O, Panthro, and Ben-Gali got on another one with the three rescued captives, Padmé, Anakin, and Obi-Wan.

Padmé and her friends were getting more and more puzzled by these strangers appearing during these unfortunate times. "If I may ask, who are _you_ people? We've already seen those aliens that Count Dooku calls Mutants and Lunataks, that are serving the Confederacy. But who are you, and are you loyal to the Republic or the Separatists?"

"We've cast our lot with the Republic," said Lion-O, "We are the ThunderCats, and we live by an honorable code called the Code of Thundera. But I think that there'll be more time for individual introductions later. For now, just know that I am Lion-O, Lord of the ThunderCats, and I wield the mighty Eye of Thundera within the Sword of Omens."

Obi-Wan nodded first. "Well, whatever your reasons for being here are, we are glad to have a few more allies against Dooku and the Separatists. Pilot! Let's get going, before more droids arrive."

"Yes sir!" said the helmeted pilot.

WilyKat and WilyKit were about to board the gunship, but Lion-O said, "Not yet, Kids. Stay in the arena for now and look for any Jedi that the gunships may have missed picking up. If you find any, help them find another way out of the arena."

The ThunderKittens looked like they regretted missing the action again, but they didn't question Lion-O. "Sure thing, Lion-O," said Kit as cheerfully as she could.

"Thanks," said Lion-O, before the perimeter of gunships started to lift off and out of the arena. The Battle of Geonosis was on.

* * *

><p>In the arena, the ThunderKittens soon found the Snarfs sitting around away from the action, next to a couple of funny looking droids. Just then, C-3PO finally roused himself and sat up. He said to Artoo, "I just had the most peculiar dream."<p>

Snarf and Snarfer stared at each other. "Snarf! A robot can have dreams? Now I've seen everything! Snarf! Snarf!"

"Do you guys need any help?" WilyKat asked them all.

Artoo beeped and spun his domed head.

"Thanks, but no thanks, WilyKat," said Snarf, "I think we'll be fine for now."

"Yeah," said Snarfer, "Uncle Snarf and me just found us the cutest little robot buddies."

"Who said that?" Threepio asked.

"Me," said Snarfer.

"I beg your pardon, but we're droids, not robots," said Threepio with impeccable politeness.

"Oh, my mistake. Sorry," said Snarfer.

"WilyKat!" said WilyKit, "I found three Jedi that didn't make it to the gunships, but are still alive."

"Oh good," said WilyKat, and they ran over to said Jedi, who included Master Roan Shryne, Master Pablo-Jill, and Padawan Barriss Offee.

"Are you three all right?" asked WilyKat.

"Uh, who are you?" asked Barriss. "And why are children in the thick of a battle, anyway?"

"Just what I need," mumbled Shryne sarcastically, "A couple of little kids to rescue me. Can't kids stay at home where they belong?"

WilyKat and WilyKit looked embarrassed and hurt.

"Padawan, Master Shryne, mind your manners," said Pablo-Jill, "They look like experienced fighters; they probably have good reason for being here."

Looking grateful for the support, the ThunderKittens introduced themselves, and said that they were there to help them get out of the arena since they had missed the gunships.

"Well, that sounds better," said Barriss, "I'm usually good at memorizing maps, but I'm glad to have more help in escaping this ugly place."

"Yes, indeed," said Pablo-Jill, "Now how about your little friends over there?" He pointed at the Snarfs and the droids.

WilyKit smiled. "I think they'll be okay. They're probably in good hands."

"How about him?" Pablo-Jill pointed in another direction. The ThunderKittens looked.

There was Boba Fett, morosely looking at the helmeted, severed head of his late father, Jango. He looked at the Jedi and the Kittens, and his expression was one of malice and refusal to forgive what had happened to his father.

"I don't know," said WilyKat, "He looks pretty angry to me."

"Why?" asked Barriss. "I didn't kill Jango Fett, and neither did the Masters here."

"Oh, Mandalorian bounty hunters are always like that toward Jedi and their sympathizers," said Shryne. "It's nothing to lose sleep over, though. It's just typical life for someone like him."

"Well, let's just leave him alone if that's what he wants," said WilyKit, "Let's get out of here before more trouble shows up."

"I agree," said Pablo-Jill, "Let's go, my friends."

"We are right behind you, kids," said Barriss, who liked children and was surprised to see kids as perky as these in the battle.

* * *

><p>In the gunships, the clones, the Jedi, and the ThunderCats gave chase to Geonosian starfighters. The Separatists and their reserve battle droids were attempting to flee in several different kinds of core ships, from the Trade Federation and the Commerce Guild to the Techno Union. Clone troopers on the ground fought blaster-to-blaster with tons of battle droids, both B1 and B2 supers. Special carrier gunships dropped off huge, walking tanks called AT-TE's, or All Terrain-Tactical Enforcers, on the ground. That was a good thing, too, because the Separatists had also brought in the big guns. Homing spider droids and dwarf spider droids of the Commerce Guild marched with the battle droids, firing deadly laser cannons at the troopers and their vehicles. IG Banking Clan Hailfire droids rolled swiftly along on their hoop wheels and fired massive numbers of missiles at the Republic tanks. Tygra was sure he saw at least one AT-TE get destroyed by a few of those missiles.<p>

Some of the Jedi landed on the ground and began to assist the clones with fighting the droids. Aayla Secura passionately fought beside some clone troopers and their clone commander. Luminara and Master Ti fought beside her, as did Cheetara and Pumyra. They noticed huge laser cannon tanks moving into position to shoot down as many of the core ships as they could. They were called SPHA-T's, and they were concentrated turbolaser cannons that fired at the vital areas of the ships. Many Techno Union ships were destroyed, as were many ships of the Commerce Guild and the Federation, but many more managed to escape intact.

"If Dooku escapes, rally more systems to his cause, he will," said Yoda in his gunship.

Mace nodded. "It looks like some of the Masters could use our help," said Mace.

"I was about to say the same thing," said Tygra.

"Lynx-O, how well can you help us, since you're blind?" Mace asked the old ThunderCat.

"My other senses besides sight have sharpened very acutely," said Lynx-O, "I can follow the movements of my allies, as well as those of my enemies, and like the other ThunderCats, I too carry a weapon." He gestured to his lamp weapon that he used for blinding foes and other purposes.

"Good," said Mace, "If your other senses were not so good, you wouldn't have been much use to us." He turned toward the cockpit. "Pilot! Land in that assembly area!"

"Yes sir," said the clone pilot.

Soon, Tygra, Lynx-O, and the Jedi Masters were on the ground giving orders to clone captains and commanders who were ready to pursue clever tactics against the droids. Despite their dislike for war, the Masters were impressed by the efficiency of the troopers, and complimented most of their creative suggestions on how to strategize against the mindless droids.

Elsewhere on Geonosis, the gunship carrying Lion-O, Ben-Gali, Panthro, Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Padmé had found Count Dooku fleeing on his private Geonosian-style speeder. He had just seen off the Mutants, the Lunataks, and the Separatist leaders, and was now evidently going somewhere else to make his own private escape.

"It's Dooku!" said Anakin, "Shoot him down!"

"We're out of rockets, sir," reported the pilot.

"Follow him, then!" said Anakin.

"We're going to need some help," said Padmé.

"There isn't time!" said Obi-Wan, "Anakin and I can handle this!"

"We'll handle him with you two," offered Lion-O.

"Good," said Obi-Wan, "We'll be glad for the help."

Suddenly, one of the fighters guarding Dooku dropped behind the gunship and fired a blast at it. The damage was minor, but Padmé, Ben-Gali, and a trooper fell out of it to the soft sand below.

"Padmé!" Anakin screamed. "Put the ship down!" he ordered the pilot.

"No!" said Obi-Wan, "Keep following Dooku! Anakin, we need to focus on the task at hand!"

"Lower the ship!" Anakin ordered impatiently.

"Anakin, stop it!" yelled Obi-Wan, "We need to stop Dooku first! If we can catch him, we can end this war right now! We have a job to do!"

"I don't care! Put the ship down!" Anakin yelled back.

"You will be expelled from the Jedi Order!" Obi-Wan replied.

"I can't leave her!" Anakin insisted.

"Anakin, come to your senses!" Obi-Wan was losing patience himself. "What do you think Padmé would do if she were in your situation?"

Anakin hesitated for a long moment, and then, he reluctantly said, " She would do her duty." And that was that for that argument.

Lion-O and the other ThunderCats had been surprised by this outburst from a Jedi, but he could tell that this particular Jedi had strong emotions in his heart that he found hard to control. The Lord of the ThunderCats became concerned for Anakin Skywalker at that moment.

* * *

><p>Finally, they reached the landing platform where Dooku had landed. Obi-Wan, Anakin, Lion-O, and Panthro got out of the gunship and followed him inside, while a Geonosian fighter shot down the gunship, killing the rest of its troops.<p>

Inside another Geonosian hive, a sinister-looking pilot droid was rolling aboard a beautiful Geonosian starship that was evidently Count Dooku's personal ship. Dooku himself stood at the far end of the room, as if he had been waiting for them.

"My new friends, the Mutants and the Lunataks, tell me that ThunderCats can be quite dangerous," said Dooku, "But I am well ready for whatever you may have to throw at me."

"We'll see who's more ready for this fight, Count," said Panthro casually.

"Where are the Mutants and the Lunataks, Dooku?" Lion-O wanted to know.

"They are already gone, to someplace safe, for the moment, at least," said Dooku. "You cannot catch up to them without besting me, first."

"You're going to pay for all the Jedi that you killed today, Dooku," said Anakin.

"Okay," said Obi-Wan, "We'll take him together. You go in slow, and I'll-"

"I'm taking him now!" said Anakin, charging Dooku.

"No, Anakin, wait!" said Lion-O.

"No, Anakin, no! No!" yelled Obi-Wan.

Dooku slowly raised his right hand. Lion-O thought he was going to use the Force to push him away, like he had done to him a little while earlier. But instead, bluish-white lightning shot from his fingertips and hit Anakin hard. He was lifted up into the air and thrown against a wall. Lion-O could somehow tell that the pain of that lightning was a terrible experience of evil, and that Anakin would never forget it.

Dooku turned to Obi-Wan and said, "As you can see, my Jedi powers far exceed yours. Now, back down." He fired his lightning at Obi-Wan, who deflected it with his lightsaber.

"I don't think so," Obi-Wan replied.

Dooku ignited his own red lightsaber. Then the battle was on. Obi-Wan and Dooku dueled each other, while Lion-O and Panthro had his back, looking for an opportunity to surprise or stun the old Count.

Outside, the clone trooper and Ben-Gali woke up from being knocked out of their gunship, and Padmé was just beginning to wake up. "Are you all right?" Ben-Gali asked her after getting up.

"Yes, I am," said Padmé, getting up herself. Then she ordered the trooper to gather some more troops to follow the gunship and get another transport.

"Right away!" the trooper said obediently. The three of them ran back to the trooper's base camp.

Obi-Wan was still dueling Dooku, but it appeared that Dooku was getting the upper hand, especially when he succeeded in putting two slash wounds on Obi-Wan's arm and leg.

"No!" said Lion-O, then yelling "Thunder, thunder, thunder, ThunderCats! Ho!" The Cat signal shot out of the Eye of Thundera and out the door and into the Geonosian sky. Soon, the other ThunderCats spotted it, and they were on their way.

But Dooku used a Force Pull to take the Sword of Omens from a Lion-O. "An interesting blade you carry, ThunderCat," he said, "But let's see if it can hold up against the plasma blade of a lightsaber." He prepared to strike the Sword with his Sith lightsaber.

"No!" yelled Lion-O.

"I've got him, Lion-O!" said Panthro, and his nun-chucks shot smoke out of their ends, disorienting Dooku for a moment.

"Sword of Omens, come to my hand!" Lion-O commanded the Sword.

The Sword did so, and Lion-O held it again. But Dooku's powers must have been greater than those of Panthro and his weapons, because he struck out with his lightsaber, and gave similar wounds to him and Lion-O, putting them out of commission.

Dooku prepared to kill all three of them, but by then, Anakin had recovered, and blocked Dooku's blade with his own. Obi-Wan offered his own lightsaber to Anakin, and he fought Dooku with two blades. Although one of the lightsabers was sliced in half, Anakin held his own with the Dark Lord of the Sith, until Dooku, with one swipe of his lightsaber, cut off Anakin's right hand and lower right arm, and Force Pushed him away.

Dooku looked as if he was feigning shame, but then an old little figure hobbled into the room from the doorway. Dooku recognized him as well as the younger Jedi and the ThunderCats did.

"Master Yoda," Dooku remarked.

"Count Dooku," Yoda replied.

"You have interfered with out affairs for the last time," Dooku said. Then, with some Force assistance, he made some rocks from the ceiling fall down in the little Jedi Master's direction. Yoda dropped his cane and easily caught the stones with the Force, and then tossed them harmlessly to the side. Then Dooku did it again, and Yoda stopped it again.

"Powerful you have become, Dooku," he said, "The dark side, I sense in you."

"I have become more powerful than any Jedi," said Dooku, shooting Force Lightning at Yoda. "Even you."

Yoda actually deflected the Lightning with his one bare hand, and then shot it back at Dooku, who made it shoot into the stone wall of the chamber. The ThunderCats looked on in amazement. It was beyond their comprehension that such an old and small creature could be so powerful as to deflect lightning bare-handed.

"Much to learn, you still have," Yoda said to Dooku.

"It is obvious that this contest cannot be solved by our knowledge of the Force," said Dooku, "but by our skills with a lightsaber."

He lifted his lightsaber in what was called the Makashi salute, and rapidly swing an X in the air with it.

Yoda looked grim, but committed, as he took out a little green lightsaber called a shoto, and ignited its blade. Then, as Dooku leaped into action, Yoda actually _leaped_ into action, too. He started to hop and somersault and flip and backflip and just plain fly all over the place as he dueled with the Separatist firebrand.

Panthro was staring open-mouthed, despite his pain. Not even a ThunderCat could move _that_ fast, unless they were Pumyra or Cheetara, of course. Lion-O felt like he was in a trance as he watched the blur that was Yoda fight.

It came down to the point where it looked like Yoda was getting the upper hand. At least, it looked like Count Dooku couldn't defeat him. "Fought well you have, my old Padawan learner," he said sternly.

"This is just the beginning!" said Dooku, and then he used his Force powers to make a giant machine tear free of its restraints on the wall and begin to fall towards the ThunderCats and the younger Jedi.

Yoda broke off the fight to use the Force to stop the machine from crushing any of them, and slowly moved it aside and put it down on the ground. The Jedi and the ThunderCats were safe. But by then, Count Dooku had retreated into his ship, and was already beginning to take off. At that moment, Padmé, several clone troopers, and the other ThunderCats arrived. They all used their weapons on Dooku's Solar Sailer, as it was called, but they had little effect, and Dooku's soulless pilot droid set a course for someplace far from Geonosis. The last they saw of Dooku was his giant solar sail expanding outwards in front of his ship, providing it with extra power.

Inside, Lion-O and Panthro had complimented Yoda for his amazing abilities. He picked up his cane and said regretfully, "Take joy in battle, I do not. Sufficient it was, for me to duel with Count Dooku. No more for me today."

The ThunderCats understood his point-of-view, and apologized, which Yoda acknowledged. The others ran into the room at that moment. Pumyra saw to the injuries of Lion-O and Panthro, while Padmé ran to check on Anakin and Obi-Wan.

And that was more or less the end of the Battle of Geonosis.

* * *

><p>Back on Coruscant, after the issues regarding the Battle of Geonosis were worked out with the Senate, most of the ThunderCats were in the Jedi Council chamber with Yoda, Mace Windu, and Obi-Wan Kenobi. Obi-Wan had just informed them that while Dooku's prisoner, Dooku had claimed that the Republic and the majority of its senators were under the control of a Dark Lord of the Sith, who was apparently named Darth Sidious.<p>

"This sounds like an unpleasant turn of events," remarked Lion-O. "I don't like the idea of there possibly being two Sith controlling both sides of this crisis."

Obi-Wan asked the Masters, "Do you think Dooku was telling the truth about what he said about Sidious controlling the Republic? It doesn't feel right."

"Treacherous, Dooku has proved himself to be," said Yoda, "Lies, deceit, trickery, he practices now."

"Although we shouldn't entirely rule out the possibility," said Lynx-O, "I think Master Yoda is right. A deceptive traitor must never be trusted to keep his word."

Mace nodded. "Nevertheless, I feel we should keep a closer eye on the Senate."

"I agree," said Yoda.

Mace looked at Obi-Wan. "Where is your apprentice, Obi-Wan?"

"On his way to Naboo, escorting Senator Amidala back home," said Obi-Wan. "I have to admit, without the clones, the battle would not have been a victory."

"Victory?" exclaimed Yoda, as if astonished by such a claim. Everyone looked at him.

"Victory, you say, Obi-Wan?" continued Yoda, "Nay, not victory. The shroud of the dark side has fallen. Begun, the Clone Wars have."

The ThunderCats felt uncomfortable. It didn't sound good, that now they had to fight a bloody war against not only the Mutants and the Lunataks, but against a powerful droid military, as well. And the Clone Wars promised to be one of the mightiest wars the galaxy had ever seen.

* * *

><p>Outside, at the Chancellor's private balcony, WilyKat and WilyKit watched with Palpatine and a large group of Loyalist senators as Republic Assault Ships were being boarded by clone troopers, all ready to go to war. As fascinating as the clones had been, the Kittens felt a twinge of regret at what had happened. Fascinating or not, these clones were going to wreak havoc all over the galaxy as they fought the droids, the Mutants, and the Lunataks. And they had no choice in the matter, either. They existed only to do the bidding of the authority figures of the Republic. It made the ThunderKittens pity them a little.<p>

Pumyra had just joined them, and she, too, seemed to sense that the future didn't look very good. She was appalled by the anticipation she sensed from most of the senators and the Chancellor, actually looking forward to crushing the Separatists instead of fighting only out of necessity. But she and the Kids noticed that there was at least one senator there who sensed the inevitable darkness that was to come, and didn't look forward to it.

Pumyra put her hand on his shoulder. He turned and looked at her. She nodded, meaning, "I understand what you're going through." The Kittens nodded too.

Bail Organa felt a little comforted by having a few people who agreed with his point-of-view, and nodded back. Apparently, neither Palpatine nor the other Loyalists noticed their private communion.

* * *

><p>And far away, on Naboo, R2-D2 and C-3PO had introduced Snarf and Snarfer to Padmé and Anakin, because they had a little surprise for them. A secret surprise.<p>

Despite the Jedi rule of no attachment, Anakin and Padmé were getting married, secretly, of course. They had to, in order for Anakin to remain a Jedi and Padmé to remain a senator. Snarf and Snarfer didn't fully understand it, but they respected Anakin and Padmé's wishes, and promised to keep it a secret, like the droids did.

They watched as a Naboo holy man pronounced them man and wife, and the two new lovers kissed tenderly. Artoo and Threepio watched with admiration. So did Snarf and Snarfer, but they privately wondered if they would have to break their promise and give away the secret someday.

The two Snarfs, uncle and nephew, wished for that day never to come.


	3. The Defense of Kamino

**A/N: **This chapter tells of the First Battle of Kamino from the perspective of the ThunderCats and the Jedi. It doesn't show Merai, although it briefly mentions him at the end, and it doesn't show any of the primary Mutants or Lunataks, either, but it does introduce Alpha, one of the earliest ARC troopers, who is a minor supporting character in this story (he figures in the early chapters of this story, and then he's written out and replaced with Captain Rex, Commander Cody, and the other clone commanders.

* * *

><p><em><strong>The Defense of Kamino<strong>_

Word had come to the Republic of the first attack the Separatists were planning after the terrific Battle of Geonosis. They were going to make an attempt to destroy the cloning facilities on Kamino, meaning no more clones for the Republic to use against the droids. It didn't look good at all, the way these Clone Wars were beginning, and the Jedi and their ThunderCats allies intended to do everything they could to stop the Separatists.

Lion-O, Lynx-O, and Obi-Wan Kenobi walked out onto a platform in Tipoca City in the perpetual rain that always showered the ocean world. Obi-Wan's Padawan, Anakin, was standing alone out there, holding some kind of droid in his hands. His eyes were open, but he seemed to be lost in another world, and there were grim lines on his young face.

Lion-O and Obi-Wan exchanged a look. "Anakin?" Obi-Wan asked gently.

Anakin snapped out of it, and the grim lines disappeared for now. "I'm sorry, master. I was…meditating."

"Out in the rain with a broken droid in your hands?" Obi-Wan inquired, "Not a meditation practice _I_ taught you, I think."

"I…I think I had a vision, master, of the coming battle," Anakin explained, "It didn't go well."

"Do not trust to visions of the future, my young Padawan," Obi-Wan said, "Keep your mind here and now. Master Yoda has noted that lately your mind always seems to be somewhere else."

"Yes, and it concerns me, too," said Lynx-O, "The ThunderCats also need to concentrate on the moment as much as possible in combat. A dangerous moment of indecision can lead to a fatal result."

Anakin looked down at the ocean. "Yes, I know, Lynx-O," he said submissively.

"Come on," said Lion-O, "Let's worry about it later. It's time to brief the other ThunderCats and Jedi."

* * *

><p>At the briefing, in which all the ThunderCats and numerous Jedi were present, Obi-Wan explained that he was to lead the defensive against the Separatists. He went on to explain that Aayla Secura and her Jedi Master, Quinlan Vos, who were both present, had gathered information about the Separatists' intended offensive, and that Master Oppo Rancisis had devised a plan to cripple their attempt.<p>

Oppo Rancisis, who look like a very old, snake-like Jedi Master, said it was imperative that the Confederacy attack first before realizing that the Republic was there in full force. That way, the bulk of their fleet was one hyperspace jump away, awaiting their signal.

"Out energy shields will protect us from energy weapons, but will not repel ground troops," said Kaminoan scientist Taun We in her smooth but cold voice, "And the majority of the clones here are not ready for battle."

Snarf and the ThunderKittens didn't altogether like the sound of the Kaminoan aliens' voices. They reminded them too much of Chilla and her uncaring, unfeeling personality, and it gave them the shivers.

Quinlan Vos said that the Separatists would just back out if they smeeled a trap, and that next time, the Republic wouldn't have a warning.

"Do we know the feeling," remarked Tygra, "The Mutants always were foes who would run away at the first sign of a trap that we executed. They are that sneaky and cowardly."

"Perhaps," said Lion-O, "but apparently, the Separatist military isn't as cowardly as the Mutants usually are. The Separatist Alliance's forces will expect some defense at Kamino, given its strategic importance. Which is why we brought all of you here from your commands."

"Yes," said Obi-Wan, "Sienar is developing starfighters for the clones, but they're not ready yet. So the Republic will rely on us, and _our_ starfighters. We will engage the opposition forces, take out the droid fighters, and delay the ground troops long enough for the rest of our forces to arrive. Master Tsui Choi and Aayla will lead the flight to intercept the fighters with Ben-Gali and Pumyra. Lion-O, Panthro, and I will lead a second flight to defend the facility. Another group of Jedi will remain on the platform to supervise ground defenses. Questions?"

All the ThunderCats and Jedi were silent, even Snarf and the ThunderKittens.

"No?" said Obi-Wan, "Then we are done here. Anakin, wait," he continued as Anakin started to leave with the others, "I want you to remain here."

"Why?!" demanded Anakin.

"You have been too distracted lately…too withdrawn," said Obi-Wan.

Cheetara had turned around and said, "I agree with Obi-Wan, Anakin. It isn't good to go into battle with a troubled mind. It could get you and others hurt."

"This isn't right!" Anakin complained, "I'm your best pilot!"

"In your own eyes, perhaps," suggested Obi-Wan. "I sense turmoil in you, Anakin, not peace."

"I sense it too," said Cheetara, "My sixth sense makes me almost as attuned to the feelings of others as the Jedi's Force apparently does. Is there anything you would like to share with us?" she said gently.

Anakin stood still and silent for a long moment. As she gently probed his mind, Cheetara couldn't make out any clear pictures of what was wrong with young Skywalker, but she thought she caught glimpses on a kindly old man whose personality wasn't too dissimilar to that of Jaga the Wise, as well as Anakin holding a dying woman in his arms, Anakin battling unknown foes, Anakin's love for another unidentified woman, and a dark figure who might have been Dooku glaring down at him from above. She wondered what all of it meant.

But then Anakin shrugged and said as politely as he could, "Nothing, Cheetara." Then he left with the others.

* * *

><p>"Padawan problems?" the hologram of Quinlan Vos asked Obi-Wan. Lion-O was also there with Tygra and Cheetara.<p>

"He doesn't always listen," said Obi-Wan sadly, "He rarely talks. He's impatient. He's restless. He's moody. He's arrogant. He's…difficult, Quinlan. Since Geonosis, it's as if a chasm has opened between us. There has been no time to stop and sort things out."

"You feel as if you're failing him?" Quinlan inquired.

"In a way, yes," said Obi-Wan.

"Does he bear any ill will to you that you know of, Obi-Wan?" asked Tygra. "I know that some people can hold grudges after even an accidental mishap."

Obi-Wan said after a moment, "Before he died, my Master, Qui-Gon Jinn, entrusted me with Anakin, to make sure that he became a knight. I gave my oath. I…never really _chose_ Anakin as my Padawan."

"Maybe it's time you did," said Cheetara, "Especially if what Master Qui-Gon said about him being a Chosen One destined to bring balance to the Force is true. I'm certain that you wouldn't want to let Qui-Gon down."

Obi-Wan thought about it. "Then the question is, 'Do I trust him? Do I trust myself?'"

He thought about it some more. Then he made up his mind and went down the hall to Anakin's room with Lion-O.

There they found Aayla trying to cheer Anakin up by helping him fix his broken droid. Evidently, Aayla had used an old mechanic's trick that involved whacking the droid lightly to make it reactivate, and even Anakin had been amused by the trick. "The secret, Anakin," said a smiling Aayla, "is to know when a thing is fixed, and when to leave it alone."

Just then, the alarm went off, meaning that the Separatist forces had arrived. Obi-Wan and Lion-O stepped into the room, and Obi-Wan said, "Everyone to their fighters. Let's go, Anakin."

"Me?" said a surprised Anakin, "But you said-"

"I've reconsidered. You were correct. You're our best pilot, and we need you. I need you, Anakin."

"We _all_ need you, Anakin, including my people," said Lion-O.

* * *

><p>Droid fighters and troop ships were already entering the skies. The ThunderCats, who flew their own vehicles, didn't fail to notice that many NoseDivers with Reptilian Mutants in them were flying with the Vulture Droids.<p>

"Oh, boy," said Panthro from the ThunderStrike, "Looks like the Mutants somehow managed to bring company with them to this galaxy."

"How could they have done that?" asked Turmagar, who rode on his faithful Gomplin steed.

"No time to worry about that right now, Turmagar!" said Willa, who flew a spare Jedi starfighter. "We need to be ready to fight these guys."

"Willa's right," said Lion-O, "Right now, only the battle matters."

"Signal the Republic fleet to get under way. We'll delay the opposition," ordered Obi-Wan, "Red Squadron, engage transports from orbit. I want the ThunderStrike and the Whisker to help them. Blue Squadron, stay with me. We'll pick up the ones who make it through."

"Right away, Obi-Wan," said Lynx-O, who was operating the ThunderStrike with his braille board, as usual.

"I'm ready as ever," said Ben-Gali from the Whisker.

"Ready, Blue Squadron?" asked Obi-Wan.

Every member of the Squadron, including Lion-O and the ThunderCats, said "Ready."

"WilyKat, WilyKit," said Lion-O, "Your Space Boards and your weapons aren't powerful enough to measure up to those droid fighters and NoseDivers in open combat. I want you to patrol the platforms of Tipoca City and slow down the influx of Reptilians, battle droids and Vulture Droids that make it to the city until some of us can get there."

"Right away, Lion-O!" said the ThunderKittens, and their Space Boards flew closer to the borders of the city.

"Go!" ordered Obi-Wan to the Jedi fighters, "Red Squadron, engage fighters and NoseDivers only. Leave the transports for us."

"Copy, Blue Squadron leader," said Aayla, "Engaging."

The Jedi and Vulture fighters engaged in air combat. The ThunderClaw and HoverCat helped them. A Jedi Master named Kossex said that he had a droid fighter on Anakin's tail, which he soon destroyed, but another droid was sneaking up on Kossex's own tail.

"Master Kossex is in danger!" shouted Turmagar.

Little Tsui Choi called for assistance from Aayla.

"On my way, Master Choi," she said, and sped to his side, but the droid fighter succeeded in destroying Kossex and his fighter. "We've lost Kossex," she said grimly.

Obi-Wan reported that he was going after the troop convoy, but no sooner did he do so than a NoseDiver fired a laser at his fighter and damaged it.

"Not alone, Master!" said Anakin, "Be careful, Master! It's my vision, exactly like my vision!"

"I'll help too, Obi-Wan!" shouted Lion-O as he flew the ThunderClaw down to Obi-Wan's plummeting ship.

"Controls not responding," said Obi-Wan. "Lion-O, Anakin, maintain your position. I'm going to use the Force to pull up her nose."

Obi-Wan managed to land the ship on the water and to make it float, and then he deflected a laser blast from the NoseDiver back at the amphibious vehicle. It exploded, and the Reptilian pilot fell out and into the sea.

"We have the others, Master!" said Anakin, as he and Lion-O shot down a few more droids and Reptilians. Suddenly, a huge water beast of Kamino's oceans rose out of the water like Leviathan, and it swallowed the Reptilian Obi-Wan had brought down. Then it attempted to do the same to Anakin's fighter and the ThunderClaw.

Lion-O aimed the Thunderclaw at the water and made it float beside Obi-Wan's damaged fighter in an attempt to keep the creature from eating it, while Anakin leapt out of his own fighter into the water before the creature ate it, too.

"Sloppy flying, my friends?" remarked Obi-Wan as Anakin resurfaced by the ThunderClaw.

"I had to protect the Thunderclaw from destruction," said Lion-O, "The ThunderCats have only a limited number of spare parts to rebuild it."

"And I couldn't get an angle on that thing in time," said Anakin, "The only way I could save you was to fly my ship down his throat."

With dry humor, Obi-Wan said, "Why is it, Anakin, that every time you rescue me, you wind up needing rescuing yourself?"

"I don't know, Master," said Anakin, "I'll try to do better."

Lion-O couldn't help but laugh for a moment at the banter that Obi-Wan and Anakin practiced. It reminded him of some of the better times he had with his friends on Third Earth and Thundera.

"I know you will, Anakin," said Obi-Wan, not paying much attention to Lion-O's laughter.

"Well, that creature seems to have gone, but-" Lion-O started to say, but just then, a host of animals attacked them from the sky.

"What are _these,_ Master?" asked Anakin.

"They fly and they have teeth," said Obi-Wan dryly, again. "Defend yourself."

For once, Anakin felt at peace as he fought, and he said so as they fought the creatures off.

Obi-Wan commented that they were probably safe for the moment, although Anakin pointed out that his fighter and the ThunderClaw were starting to sink.

"Yes, it is," said Lion-O, "I can offer you guys a ride back to base if you like."

"No thank you," said Obi-Wan kindly, "I don't know fi that ship can bear the weight of all three of us on its back."

"But the ThunderClaw is made for lifting heavy loads," said Lion-O, "Cheetara once used it to overturn the inverted ThunderTank with help from Tygra and the HoverCat."

"Thank you again," said Obi-Wan, "But something tells me that we're going to find another form of resuce soon enough. I can feel it in the Force."

"So can I, Master," said Anakin. Suddenly he shouted, "THERE!"

An aiwha, one of the cetacean predators of Kamino's oceans, burst out of the water, and Taun We was riding it. At the same time, Lion-O noticed Mandora the Evil Chaser flying down toward them on the Electro Charger.

"How are you boys doing down there?" Mandora called down to them.

"Could be better," said Lion-O, "But we're glad to see you, Mandora."

"Greetings, Master Jedi and ThunderCat Lord," said Taun We politely, "We saw your ships go down and wondered if we could offer you some assistance."

"Well, since you're here, thank you, Taun We," said Obi-Wan.

"I'll fly the ThunderClaw out of the water myself," said Lion-O, "Maybe after the battle, Panthro can check it and see if it was waterlogged."

"I'm sure Panthro can fix any ThunderCat vehicle, no matter how badly damaged it is," said Mandora with a smile.

"Your fleet has arrived, Master Jedi," said Taun We to Obi-Wan, "but the battle is still in doubt. The city itself is in danger, and Hachiman, Cheetara and the ThunderKittens could use your assistance."

"We'll fix that, won't we, Master?" said Anakin.

"As the Force wills, Anakin," replied Obi-Wan, "We'll face it side-by-side. Come on, let's get back to the fight."

* * *

><p>On Cargo Platform C-22, battle droids and super battle droids were marching on the clone troopers. It had just been captured by the droids, which mowed their way through all the assembled troops. Security Sector 6 had been overrun, and a Jedi General had been killed by the droids, along with his squad of clones. The Central Armory had been invaded, and the troopers there were wiped out by Droidekas. And Level 9 had just been lost, as well.<p>

Cheetara, Master Shaak Ti, and Kaminoan Prime Minister Lama Su watched as the droids marched closer to the more vital areas of the city. It did not look good.

"We are being overwhelmed, Master Ti," said Lama Su, "If the droids reach the interior labs, the newest generation of clones will be destroyed…or worse."

"We haven't lost yet, Lama Su," Shaak Ti assured him, "While Jedi still breathe, we will not abandon Kamino."

"And we ThunderCats never give up, either," said Cheetara, "We face whatever dangers are in front of us with every intention of winning, and we _will_ prevail."

"Then you won't fight alone," said Lama Su, "We do have one last line of defense."

"What's that?" asked Cheetara.

"Walk this way, and you will see," said the Prime Minister. He brought them to a nearby chamber where several clones were in suspended animation within stasis tubes, wearing only watertight underwear and a breathing mask.

"Who are they?" inquired Cheetara.

"Advanced Recon Commandos, or Advanced Recon Clone troopers," said Lama Su, "They are the best of the best in the clone army. Jango Fett trained them personally for the most critical missions."

"But you keep them in stasis tubes?" asked Shaak Ti, "Are they dangerous?"

"They display some of Jango's personality and independence," Lama Su replied, "This has made them…unpredictable. They are part of the more loyal Alpha-class ARC troopers. Years ago, the prototype ARC troopers, who we designated Null-class, proved to be very uncooperative and rebellious, and after a Mandalorian mercenary named Kal Skirata saved them from reconditioning, they are ever after loyal only to him, although they still do missions for the Republic."

"If released, the Alpha ARC's will fight to protect Kamino, but after the battle…"

"I'm confident the Jedi can keep them in line," said Shaak Ti.

"The ThunderCats are very reasonable people, too, Prime Minister," said Cheetara, "If a mercenary could control those ARC's you call Nulls, then the ThunderCats can surely do the same for the Alphas."

"Then we are agreed," Lama Su said, "I only hope it's not too late."

"Show us to the children," said Shaak Ti, looking at an image of a clone cadet who was still a child.

In another part of the city, a squad of battle droids was blasting some clone troopers to death, and were making their way to the little cadets. But before they could execute the children, blue laser blasts came from the ceiling and rained down on the droids. Everyone looked up.

Three blue-and-white armored ARC troopers were coming down from the ceiling on rappel lines. One of them ordered the boys to stay down while he and the other two ARC's blasted the droids to shreds. The ARC trooper who spoke even smashed the head of one battle droid with his DC-15A blaster rifle.

When all the droids were down, the cadets gratefully thanked the ARC troopers. "You saved us!" one of them said.

"You could have saved yourselves," said the first trooper with surprising brusqueness. "You're not defenseless. You've been trained for this. Grab the nearest weapon and get ready for-"

Droidekas started to fire at them from another direction. The other two ARC troopers dropped to the ground, wounded or dead.

"INCOMING!" yelled the first ARC, "Find cover!"

The Droidekas started to waddle closer. The ARC noted that they were Droidekas and said that they didn't have enough firepower to take down both of them.

"Then maybe we can help," said a female voice from nearby.

Shaak Ti and Cheetara had appeared on the scene with Lama Su. "Keep your heads down," Shaak Ti ordered.

She and Cheetara leapt over the cover of the ARC and the children, and Shaak Ti smashed one of the Droidekas with her body, subsequently slashing it with her lightsaber. Cheetara used her staff to send electric power shooting into the other Droideka through the floor, electrocuting it.

"I knew that Jedi were supposed to help command the clone army," said the ARC, "But I have no idea who or what this other woman is supposed to be."

"She's a ThunderCat," said Shaak Ti, "But we'll worry about explaining that to you later, if we survive this battle. This is far from over. We must get the children to safety!"

"Lama Su! Where is the prime clone?" the ARC asked, meaning Jango Fett.

"Dead," said Lama Su, "And the cloning facility has been compromised."

"More battle droids!" announced Shaak Ti.

"Get the children to the lower level!" said the ARC.

An explosion rocked the hallway. "What now!" asked Lama Su.

"Evacuate the children," said the ARC trooper, "I'll protect the latest generation. The Confederacy must not find them."

"I'm coming with you," said Cheetara, slowing her super speed to a more normal running speed to accommodate the ARC.

"So am I," said Master Ti.

"Suit yourselves. I'm adaptable," said the ARC.

"Where are we going?" Cheetara asked him.

"To the cloning labs. Just stay close."

Suddenly, more battle droids appeared on the bridge they were beginning to cross. "There they are!" the droids barked, "Blast them! Roger, roger! Roger, roger!"

"I'll handle this," said Master Ti, Force Pushing the droids off the bridge and onto the floor far below.

"Nice work," remarked the ARC, "This will finish them." He threw some sort of grenade down at the droids, which appeared to fry them when it detonated.

"Amazing! What was that?" Cheetara asked.

"Reverse-polarity pulse grenade," said the ARC, "Overloads all of their systems, kind of like droid poppers, a similar grenade issued to the grunts of the army. But it also disrupts my armor's sensors." He put his hand to his head as if he had a headache. "It'll take a moment to re-calibrate."

"We don't have that long," Cheetara said as even more battle droids approached them.

"Fire! Fire!" shouted a B1 battle droid commander.

"Roger, roger! Roger, roger!" that repetition of the word "roger" was starting to get on Cheetara's nerves. She and Shaak Ti got ready to defend themselves and the ARC again.

Just then, several little pellets were tossed from one direction at the battle droids, and some kind of gas came out that confused their sensors in their electronic brains. Then, a lightsaber that wasn't Shaak Ti's flew through the air and slashed right through the middles of the droids' torsos.

"What was _that!?"_ the ARC wanted to know.

Lion-O, the ThunderKittens, Mandora, Anakin, and Obi-Wan had just caught up with them at last. "Just some friends," said WilyKit cheerfully.

"Cheetara!" said Lion-O.

"Master Ti!" said Obi-Wan as Anakin caught his lightsaber in midair.

"Lion-O! Kids! It's good to see you're finally here!" said Cheetara, linking hands with Lion-O.

"Obi-Wan, Anakin, it's good to see you both, too," said Shaak Ti.

"Likewise," said Lion-O.

"The facility is being overrun," said Obi-Wan, equally concerned for them, "I was beginning to fear you were dead."

"She and her _fast _friend will be soon if we don't keep moving," said the ARC rudely.

WilyKat and Anakin looked at him in surprise.

"He's rude for a clone," remarked Anakin.

"I'll say he is," said WilyKat, frowning at the ARC trooper.

The ARC ignored his frown. "And you're complacent for someone who may be on the losing side of a battle," he said to Anakin. "I have not worked with Jedi before, but I was led to expect…more. I think the same could be said about these 'ThunderCats' I've just been introduced to. The droids aren't standing around talking. We shouldn't be either. Follow me if you want to do some good."

"He has a point, friends," said Lion-O, "Let's save the rest of the pleasantries for later, okay?"

Everyone agreed to this quickly.

"Well, I for one gladly forgive him for his brusque personality," said Mandora, "Going soft on my suspects and criminals wasn't going to get me anywhere as an Evil Chaser."

"Now _there's_ somebody who makes sense for once in our little group," said the ARC, "Although I surely don't know what an Evil Chaser is."

"I'm a police officer, trooper," said Mandora, "I hunt down and arrest dangerous evildoing criminals."

"I figured that cops do that sort of thing for myself, thank you very much," said the ARC. "Now enough talk. Let's get moving!"

The ARC led them across another bridge, this one covered with tough safety glass. "This is the only way to the latest generation's labs – they're still safe."

"Not for long!" said Anakin, deflecting blaster fire from some more droids. Lion-O used the Sword of Omens to blow away most of the droids Anakin couldn't hit. The ThunderKittens tossed some more smoke pellets behind them to slow down the droids. Mandora fired her enzyme-catalyzer at the droids, which wasn't as powerful as the ARC's DC-15A blaster rifle, but still defeated the droids easily enough.

"How many are there?" the ARC asked.

"I don't know," said Anakin, "All of them?"

Finally, they made it to the lab where the next generation of clones was being housed. "Amazing," said Lion-O.

"I'll say," agreed Anakin, "This is a single generation?"

"Yes, it is," confirmed the ARC. "Now pick up your jaws, Jedi, and cover me."

"Whatever you're doing, do it fast," warned Obi-Wan, "We're about to be overrun."

"I only need a few seconds," the ARC said.

"What are you doing?" asked Lion-O, "Raising a shield? Sending a distress signal?"

"No, I entered the self-destruct code," said the ARC matter-of-factly.

"You did what?!" Cheetara shouted.

"Jango's orders," explained the ARC as they fought, "We can't allow the clones to fall into the wrong hands. They grow up loyal to the Republic, or they don't grow up at all."

Nobody in the room agreed with the ARC's logic, ThunderCat or Jedi. "There has to be another way," Shaak Ti said.

"There is no other way," said the ARC, "Unless…" He stopped to think for a second. Then he gave some orders of his own to Lion-O and the Jedi.

"Use your powers to tear open the transparisteel! Do it now, before the next assault reaches us!"

"You'll drown us all!" exclaimed Cheetara.

"No," he replied, "You're going to hold back the ocean."

Finally understanding what the ARC had in mind, the three Jedi raised their hands and began to concentrate on the Force. Lion-O raised the Sword of Omens and pointed it in the same direction as the Jedi's hands. The other ThunderCats watched with nervous anticipation.

"Focus, Anakin!" Obi-Wan said quietly to his Padawan, "Let the Force flow through you! We must all work in unison."

"HO!" Lion-O shouted, activating the Eye of Thundera.

The transparisteel that held back the ocean broke open in one spot, and it swept away and short-circuited all the remaining battle droids.

"I just hope we didn't commit suicide," remarked Anakin as the seawater began to flow in their direction.

"We need to close the tunnel," said Shaak Ti.

The Jedi used their powers to tear pieces of the walls off and place them in front of the tunnel's doorway. Then Lion-O partially melted it with the Sword to ensure that it remained closed until they could be rescued.

"It's working, Jedi," said the ARC. Even he sounded a little amazed.

"Incredible," said Shaak Ti.

"What do we do now?" asked Anakin.

"First, I deactivate the self-destruct before we're all blown to Corellia," said the ARC, doing so as he said so. "Then we hold this position until the battle is over…or we're dead."

"Thank you for saving them," said Cheetara warmly to him, sincerely grateful.

"Yeah," said WilyKat, trying to get on his good side, "Without you, I don't know how we would've gotten out of that mess."

The Arc looked at them and grunted. "You're welcome," he said, "But I didn't do it for you. I was just following Jango's orders."

He looked up at the babies with the pride of a superior soldier. WilyKat shrugged helplessly.

"Aw, don't worry about him, WilyKat," said WilyKit, "If he wants to be rude and nasty with us, that's his problem, not ours."

"My personality is not a problem to me at all," said the ARC.

WilyKit glared at him. "Oh, just shut up for once, will ya!?" she hollered.

The ARC looked at her as if amused. "Gladly, kid."

* * *

><p>Much later, after the battle was won for the Republic, and the Reptilians and the Mon Calamari had fled, the younger ThunderCats felt that they had just scored a good victory for the Republic, except for Pumyra, who agreed with the elders that there were some unusual aspects of the battle.<p>

Lion-O, Lynx-O, and Pumyra stood with Mace Windu as they sent a holographic message to Master Yoda. They were talking about Commander Merai, and the Mutant General, Slithe.

"I'm not at all surprised that Slithe survived the battle, Master," said Lion-O, "The Mutants have a real knack for self-preservation."

"Right, you most likely are, Lord Lion-O," said Yoda, "But what of his ally, Commander Merai? Seemed to be conflicted with his own emotions, Slithe seemed to be, according to Master Gallia, who pursued him in her fighter."

Lion-O shrugged. "I'm afraid I can't account for that, Master Yoda. It's not like the Mutants to make friends with anyone, even each other."

"Hmm," mused Yoda, turning to Mace. ""What have you to report, Master Windu?"

Mace explained, "Adi Gallia was too hard on herself. She felt she should have expected the sabotage of the hyperspace rings. I told her to take solace in our victory. Kamino's safe, and I doubt the Federation will try another attack."

"Yet you seem unsatisfied as well, my friend," said Yoda with concern.

"It's something I find just as unusual as Lion-O found the behavior of Slithe at the battle, Master," said Mace, "It's the Mon Calamari leader, Merai. I knew him, or at least I knew of him. He was a smart soldier, probably smarter than these Mutants we're up against. Why would he and Slithe attempt such an ill-planned attack? And on whose orders?"

All Yoda could say was, "Darker and more clouded, the future is."

The ThunderCats exchanged looks again. They weren't used to fighting in complicated wars, only straightforward ones, and it sounded like many strange things were going to happen before this war ended.


	4. All-Hyperkinetic Jedi Action!

**A/N:** The adventures in this chapter take place in stories from the comic books, _Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures, Vol. 1 and 2_. They come from the comics, **"Blind Force,"** **"Heavy Metal Jedi,"** and **"Hide in Plain Sight."**

For any readers who may be getting impatient waiting for the first Clone Wars episode to have a part in this story, bear with me. Soon, I will be doing a chapter involving the events of **"Clone Cadets,"** and then there will be some more comics, and some of the adventures from the older Star Wars: Clone Wars cartoon from 2003-5, and then I'll introduce characters like Rex, Cody, Admiral Yularen, Jabba, Admiral Trench, and Ahsoka Tano. So just be patient; I'll be at that point eventually. And I will soon start the Mumm-Ra/Sith fanfic, and when I'm ready, I'll continue the Plun-Darr/Confederacy story, too.

* * *

><p><em><strong>All-Hyperkinetic Jedi Action!<strong>_

* * *

><p><em>Blind Force<em>

During the height of the Clone Wars…

"Master, I think I've fixed the halo lamp," said Anakin Skywalker's voice in the thick of the darkness where he, Obi-Wan, and Lion-O stood.

The said lamp switched on, and the companions could see each other again.

"Good work, Anakin," said Obi-Wan, "Now we'll be able to see what we're doing out here."

Anakin waved the lamp around them, trying to see what was in the darkness surrounding them, but curiously, there wasn't much he or they could see.

"Or perhaps not," remarked Obi-Wan, as they took in all the thick shadows in the place.

"At least now we know why they call Nivek the 'Night Planet,'" said Lion-O, trying to lighten the mood a little with a wisecrack.

Obi-Wan didn't think it was the appropriate time. "And why Master Windu feared it was the perfect place for an ambush," he said.

"I don't see anything, Master," said Anakin.

"I don't, either," agreed Lion-O. "Even the Eye of Thundera has difficulty cutting through this natural darkness. At a time like this, Lynx-O's Light Shield might've come in handy."

"I don't have to _see_ the danger to know it's there," said Obi-Wan. "If the Jedi Council's suspicions are correct, the Nivek Shadowmen are hiding Confederacy weapons on the planet. And they'll do anything to protect them."

"The Shadowmen can't stay hidden forever," said Anakin.

"Believe me, Anakin," said Lion-O boldly, "They not only _can't_. They _won't."_

"They _don't intend to,"_ said Obi-Wan.

Suddenly, an attack came at them from above. Obi-Wan sensed it first and ordered Anakin and Lion-O to "Move!" The Jedi ignited their lightsabers while Lion-O drew the Sword of Omens, but they still couldn't see anybody or anything, not even the Shadowmen.

"Durasteel cable netting," surmised Obi-Wan, "The Shadowmen are high-tech hunters, and far more cunning than we assumed. They must be in the canopy above us, though I can't see any movement."

"Don't worry," said Lion-O, "Even if we can't see them, we'll hear them coming-"

Something seemingly invisible started to pound Lion-O in the face and head, stunning him for a second. A moment later, Obi-Wan had the same experience. For some reason, the unseen attacker left Anakin alone for the moment.

"Master! What happened?" asked Anakin, "I didn't see anything!"

"Neither did I," said Lion-O as he rubbed his sore jaw.

Obi-Wan wiped a drop of blood from his mouth. "Nor did I," he admitted. "This first assault was meant to test us. Now that they know we're blind, the Shadowmen will attack in force." He probed the area with the Force, looking for a way to escape the Shadowmen.

"The ship is this way. Stay close," he ordered. They all started running in one direction.

"Careful, Master! I smell something foul…" said Anakin.

"A tar lake!" exclaimed Obi-Wan, "I can't see the other side. So leaping across could be suicide for us. How about you, Lion-O?"

"All ThunderCats have good leaping abilities," said Lion-O, "But even we find such jumps as that suicidal, when we can't see where it ends."

"In that case, we'll have to go around the lake," Obi-Wan said. They started to do so, but suddenly, somebody, presumably the Shadowmen, fired sonic blasters at them from the darkness. They had to stop again.

"There! I see something," said Anakin, "No, wait, they're moving. Enough!" he suddenly shouted, "I may not be able to see them, but I know they're all around us. Let's see the Shadowmen outrun a rock storm!"

Anakin used the Force to pull chunks of rock and stone from the ground, and threw it in all directions outward from him and his friends. There was a lot of cracking and crunching noises, and the Shadowmen seemed to be subdued for the moment.

Lion-O looked impressed by Anakin's power, but Obi-Wan was not so sure.

"You really _do_ know how to use the Force against your foes, don't you, Anakin?" Lion-O complimented him.

"Well thanks, Lion-O," said Anakin with a smile, "You know, that's the first time anyone outside of the Chancellor and some of my other closest friends have complimented my skills."

"Believe me, Lion-O," said Obi-Wan, frowning at Anakin, "That wasn't impressive. That was _reckless."_

Anakin continued to smile for a moment longer. "I'm just getting started, Master."

"I _will_ teach him control," Obi-Wan mused to himself.

"What's wrong, Obi-Wan?" asked Lion-O, "Frankly, I'd think that you'd be glad that Anakin did a good offensive against these Shadowmen. I might have done similarly myself with the Sword of Omens if he hadn't thought of the idea first."

Obi-Wan sighed. "It's a long story, Lion-O," said Obi-Wan, "For now, let's just say that being a Jedi Knight requires great maturity and full commitment to being defensive, rather than offensive, even though some Jedi partly disagree with me on that last one, and Anakin's maturity seems to be blossoming slowly."

"Oh, I see," said Lion-O, somewhat understanding Obi-Wan's perspective, "Well, sometimes, I can be a little impetuous myself, so I know a little about what Anakin's going through on that level."

"Then maybe you can tell me a little about it someday," said Obi-Wan, "Because Anakin doesn't seem to be very predisposed to talk about it himself."

"Obi-Wan, Lion-O," said Anakin, "I hit something over here. I'm sure of it."

They looked, and it turned out only to be a hole in a big stone.

"Not quite the target you wanted?" asked Obi-Wan.

"At least I fought back," said Anakin.

"No, you lashed out," replied Obi-Wan, "There's a difference. You must learn to be cautious and precise in your use of-"

A Shadowman suddenly grabbed at Obi-Wan from behind.

"Get away from him!" Anakin yelled at the beast, getting ready to kill it with his lightsaber.

"HO!" Lion-O shouted at his own Sword, and a shot of energy came out of the tip. He and Anakin fought almost wildly at the Shadowmen, trying to save Obi-Wan, while the Shadowmen screamed and screeched in the darkness.

Finally, they got the Shadowmen away from Obi-Wan, but now, even Anakin was beginning to doubt their ability to defeat them. "They have us surrounded," he said, "And we're basically blind."

Obi-Wan was quickly tearing a few strips of cloth off of the end of his Jedi robe. "We only _think _we're at a disadvantage. We need blindfolds."

"What?" Lion-O asked in surprise.

"Master, I think you took a blow to the head," said Anakin.

"Just cover your eyes!" Obi-Wan ordered him. "You too, Lion-O!" He put one of the blindfolds over his eyes.

Lion-O shrugged and put his own on. As Anakin put his on, he asked, "Why? So we don't see the end coming?"

"We've been relying on our eyes, and they have failed us," said Obi-Wan, "Now, we will rely only on the Force."

At that moment, Lion-O and Anakin finally understood what Obi-Wan had in mind. "And I will rely only on the Eye of Thundera," said Lion-O.

Obi-Wan began to speak like a venerable teacher as they began to defend themselves against the Shadowmen. "Feel the Force flowing through you. Let go of your conscious self, and allow the Force to guide your actions. Stretch out with your feelings."

"I can feel Shadowmen everywhere, crawling all over the planet!" said Anakin as they fought.

"I sense them, too," agreed Obi-Wan.

Not one Shadowman that escaped the lightsaber blades was able to evade the righteous mayhem of the Eye of Thundera, as the mystical Sword of Omens shredded Shadowmen everywhere, too.

"Focus on those you can reach," said Obi-Wan, "Don't get overwhelmed."

As they seemed to be finishing off the last of the Shadowmen, Anakin announced that he sensed something else, and began to run away.

"Anakin! Wait!" yelled Obi-Wan and Lion-O, following him.

"Just try to keep up, Master," said Anakin.

"Where are we going?" asked Lion-O.

"Can't you hear it?" asked Anakin back.

"You're not making any sense," said Obi-Wan, "Hear what?"

They removed their blindfolds and looked around. They were standing outside of an underground Separatist warehouse.

"The hum of machines," answered Anakin.

"Amazing. I didn't hear anything," said Obi-Wan.

"I guess we're just wired differently, Master," Anakin suggested.

"There's no question about that, Anakin," Obi-Wan said, "Now let's complete our mission."

They all ran up the steps towards the big doorway. Battle droids came out and shot at them. Lion-O and the Jedi easily cut their way through the hapless, spindly droids and continued on. Inside, more battle droids awaited them, but these were easily dispatched, as well. When they made it just a little further inside, Obi-Wan ordered Anakin to set the detonator to destroy the warehouse. Anakin did so, attaching the detonator to a wall and activating it. Then they all beat it out of there. A Hailfire Droid followed them and tried to blow them up with missiles, but they got out safely, and before the Hailfire could follow them, the bomb detonated, and the warehouse was destroyed, along with all the remaining droids inside.

"I guess our mission was successful," said Lion-O, _"Both_ of you are very good at what you do, you know."

"Well, thank you, Lion-O," said Obi-Wan, "But Jedi do not do their missions for the glory, just out of the need to get them done."

"Oh yeah," said Lion-O, "I'm so accustomed to the Code of Thundera that it'll take some practice to get used to the Jedi Code."

"Well, I'm sure that we Jedi can get used to the Code of Thundera, too," said Anakin, "We can't all be exactly the same. What now, Master?"

"Let's get back to the ship," said Obi-Wan, "It'll be getting dark again soon."

And they left Nivek and the Shadowmen behind them forever.

* * *

><p><em>Heavy Metal Jedi<em>

Elsewhere in the galaxy, a battle between the clones and the droids was taking place on the planet Iktotch, home of the Iktotchi species. Mace Windu and Saesee Tiin, another member of the Jedi Council and an Iktotch himself, were commanding the battle on the Republic's side. ThunderCats Tygra and Panthro were helping them out.

A battle droid said to his squadron, "Incoming!" They looked up. A large super battle droid was flying through the air, in their direction.

"Hey!" said another one, "B2's aren't supposed to be able to fly!"

"Cawww! You stupid droids!" they heard Commander Vultureman say over their intercoms, "One of the Jedi is going to crush you with that! Get out of its way! Caw!"

"Quick! Move it!" the battle droid commander commanded its squadmates. But the battle droids just kept colliding with each other and tumbling over each other in their attempt to escape. Only one survived the crash of the super battle droid when it arrived, and squashed them all.

"Caw! You stupid idiot!" he yelled at the survivor, "Go get yourself killed, for all I care! I can see why General Grievous thinks you B1's are all but useless!"

"Roger, roger," said the droid, and marched out to get shot.

On the side of the Grand Army of the Republic, Mace, Saesee, and the ThunderCats watched, impressed by that stunt.

"Nearly three kilometers," remarked Saesee, "Nice throw, Master Windu. But my last droid landed at four."

"This isn't a competition, Master Tiin," Mace admonished him.

"In any case," Tygra intervened, "Mace's droid landed on an advancing squad. And I agree with him, sometimes precision is better than power."

"Yeah, well, that's good for you, Tygra," said Panthro, "But I'm more inclined to agree with Saesee here, who prefers strength to precision."

"Yes, yes," said Saesee, as they leapt into action again, "The rapier versus the broadsword. I've heard this argument before."

"But evidently, you and Panthro still prefer the broadsword," said Mace as he sliced up some droids.

"You bet," said Panthro cheerfully as he kicked in a few droid heads with his boots.

"I'm hard-headed," said Saesee, "And apparently, so is Panthro. It is my greatest strength, besides my telepathy. And my strength has never failed me."

"Me neither," said Panthro, wielding his nun-chucks with deadly force.

"You can't smash your way through the entire droid army," argued Mace.

"Believe me, Mace, Panthro can do it," said Tygra. "He can smash through almost anything."

"How?" asked Mace.

"I'll show you," said Panthro. Suddenly, the ThunderTank appeared beside them, apparently on autopilot. Panthro jumped in the driver's seat and began to plow through the droids with its metal paws and laser cannons.

As if inspired by Panthro's bravado, Saesee smashed a droid's head with his elbow.

"We'll argue the finer points of your tactics later," said Mace, continuing to fight. "Right now, our position is about to be overrun."

Battle droids, super battle droids, Hailfire Droids, and Dwarf Spider Droids were marching in like there was no end to them. The ThunderTank smashed and/or pushed aside every one that got in his way. Mace and Saesee were more than a little surprised that its armor was resistant to Hailfire missiles.

"We need more of those ThunderTanks!" Saesee said in all seriousness.

"Maybe I'll be able to make more of them, if time allows, Saesee," said Panthro.

Together, all four fighters used the Force and their weapons to push a Hailfire missile back to its source, and destroy the front-most Hailfire droid, making things a little easier again.

"Nearly five kilometers," said Panthro, looking at Saesee, "Two broadswords are better than one."

"I agree, my friend," said Saesee.

"So are two rapiers, it appears," said Mace, glancing at Tygra. "Let's find the command center and-"

All of a sudden, something huge and hulking started to loom over the smoke and dust, and it was obviously coming right at them.

"This is new," Mace remarked.

The Republic and the ThunderCats had just gotten their first glimpse of Wat Tambor's B3 ultra battle droid, which was much taller than a B2, had four arms instead of two, and was bristling with weapons and powerful armor. Superficially, however, it looked like a giant B2 super.

The B3 ultra battle droid fired a flamethrower at them, as well as all its wrist blasters. The Jedi and the ThunderCats were forced to retreat. Even Panthro knew that the ThunderTank might not be able to hold up against it.

"Tiin, we could use your strength now!" Mace shouted.

"Yours too, Panthro!" said Tygra.

Saesee commented that it had some sort of density projector that made it almost impossible to move with a Force Push, so Mace suggested that they take it apart one piece at a time. Tygra turned invisible, and used the tip of his bolo whip to crack open the B3's visor. Then Mace used his lightsaber to blind it. Next, Panthro shocked the droid with a blast from his nun-chucks, while Saesee crippled one of its legs with his lightsaber.

"It still has one desperate attack," Mace noted, "Homing missiles."

The ultra battle droid fired its two homing missiles at them. One chased Mace, while the other came at Panthro and Saesee.

Mace leapt over to the back of the ultra droid, allowing his missile to follow him back there. When he landed, Mace jumped aside, letting the missile hit the droid in the back. Meanwhile, while Panthro had his back, Saesee used the Force to change the direction of his missile in mid-flight, and it turned around and doubled back to its source. The ultra battle droid blew up.

"Nice work," remarked Tygra, who had turned visible again, "I've never seen anyone catch a homing missile in mid-flight before."

"Neither have I," said Panthro.

But the ultra battle droid was attempting one last surprise attack at that moment.

"But clearly, even your acrobatics weren't enough to stop that thing," said Saesee.

"Don't worry," said Mace, "We still have your strength."

"And mine," said Panthro.

"And our speed," said Tygra.

With the Force and the ThunderCats' weapons, they lifted up a large piece of droid wreckage and threw it on the ultra battle droid, crushing it for good this time.

"Well, I hope this debate is settled, now, Master Windu," said Saesee.

"You're going to tell me that this was a battle won by sheer force?" asked Mace incredulously, "The broadsword over the rapier?"

"I don't think he is," said Tygra, "After all, _weapons_ didn't win this battle."

"The _ThunderCats_ and the _Jedi_ did," said Panthro with a grin.

Saesee smiled back. After a moment, even grim Mace let out a hint of a smile.

* * *

><p><em>Hide in Plain Sight<em>

Threadneedle Canyon, Nadiem…

A squad of clone troopers was walking quietly through a trench on the embattled planet. Their Captain said to them, "Fall back to the next marker." Then he said over his comlink, "Advance Squad to General Unduli. The droid army has quickened its pace. E.T.A. at your location in less than one hour."

"Message received, Captain," said Luminara, "Proceed as ordered."

She was standing by a small village where many citizens were standing around, brooding over the situation on their home planet. AT-TE's and SPHA-T's were standing at ready, as were clone troopers. Luminara's Padawan, Barriss Offee, and ThunderCat Pumyra, were also on the planet with her.

"Worried about the battle, Luminara?" Pumyra asked her.

"No, Pumyra," Luminara replied, "I have every confidence in our army, but I wanted to get the civilians clear before the fighting began." She walked up to a clone Lieutenant and asked him how the evacuation was going.

"Slowly, General," he said, "Most of the civilians want to bring possessions with them, but we have limited space."

"And limited time," Luminara said.

"I have to agree with you, Master Luminara," said Pumyra.

"I'll try to get through to them again," said Luminara. She stepped up to the crowd and said to them:

"May I have your attention, please? I know this is a difficult situation for all of you. We're doing all we can to save your lives, but space is limited. I'm afraid we can't save your possessions. You will have to leave them behind."

There were some murmurs and mutterings among the people. A woman said, "But this crystal collection belonged to my great-great-grandmother!"

A farmer gestured to his favorite farm animal and said, "Leave Elrod behind? Why, he's practically family!"

Luminara replied, "Your Eopie will require the space of three people. To which of them do you suggest we deny passage?"

"Uh, er, well…" the farmer stuttered, suddenly uncertain. Then he turned to his Eopie and said, "You just run, Elrod. You'll be safe. I'll come back for you."

Pumyra wanted to help soothe their fears. She stepped forward and said, "Gentle beings, I believe that we will stop the Separatists and the warriors of Plun-Darr from invading your valley, but nothing in this life is certain. It's for your safety that Master Luminara and I have arranged this evacuation. If you wish to board the transports, you must abide by the rules."

"The Jedi and her feline friend are right," said another farmer, "Getting our families to safety is more important than anything we might own."

"Thank you," said Pumyra kindly as the woman with the crystal collection sadly set it down on the ground. Almost everyone else put something down in the pile to be left behind, too, and they all got in a line to board the transports. A few people, such as the old men and women, were allowed to keep their canes or anything else that was vital to their ability to move around.

Luminara looked over the crowd, and seemed to be satisfied with the way the people had complied with the rules. That is, until she noticed a fat man standing in the middle of the line. She recalled that he had put nothing in the pile of possessions before, and she also noticed that he was feeling rather nervous, as though he was doing something he didn't want anybody else to know about. Then she glanced at his legs for a second, and then it occurred to her. She frowned. The fat man sweated.

Suddenly, to Pumyra and Barriss' surprise, she leapt forward, ignited her lightsaber, and used it to cut open the man's big robe. He cried out in alarm, and as the robe opened, lots of bags and metal boxes fell out that were full of a wealth of money.

Luminara got right in his face and said, "You should be _ashamed."_

"I am. I'm so sorry," the man stammered, who had turned out to actually be quite thin.

"Put your possessions with the others and take your place," said Luminara, "At the end of the line."

"The _end_ of the line?" the man said indignantly, "I have a spot on the next ship!"

"Correction," said Luminara, "You _had_ a spot on the next ship. Past tense. See, many of your neighbors have small children, children who might have had to risk waiting for another flight because of all your baggage. Are you sure you want to be on the same flight as them?"

The man looked like he was thinking about it, as if he was trying to look smart. Finally, he said, "I'll wait at the end of the line."

"A wise decision," said Luminara firmly.

After all the evacuation transports had lifted off, Barriss asked Luminara, "How did you know he was hiding something, Master?"

"Because he was the only person in line _not_ carrying something," Luminara explained. "Sometimes trying too hard to escape detection will draw attention to oneself. Besides, for a man of his apparent girth, he had awfully skinny legs!" She winked at her Padawan.

Barriss grinned. So did Pumyra.

"General!" came a call from the clone Captain.

"Come in, Advance Squad," she responded.

"We've overtaken a group of refugees from one of the outlying settlements. One of them is sick. His illness delayed their progress to the evac site. Request an airlift from this location," said the Captain.

Barriss said to Luminara, "Master, let me go! If we move quickly, we can still get the villagers to safety before the Separatist army arrives!"

Pumyra stared at Barriss. The She-Cat wasn't a telepath, like Cheetara or Lynx-O were, but she could see that this pretty young lady was a very caring and compassionate woman, one who really cared about helping other people live to see more days of their life. Pumyra had a feeling that Barriss was going to be a pleasure to work with.

"I'll go with Barriss," she said, "If that's all right, Luminara."

Luminara thought about it for a moment. "All right, Barriss, go. And yes, you may go with her, Pumyra. I think she'll be glad for the help. But take along a squad of commandos, too. I want to make certain that you return safely, Padawan, and you too, ThunderCat."

Soon, Barriss and Pumyra were riding a gunship to the place where Advance Squad and the villagers were waiting.

"I must say," said Barriss, "I'm surprised you volunteered to come along, Pumyra."

"That's what ThunderCats do, Barriss," said Pumyra, "We're bound to an honorable code, just like the Jedi, and part of that code is remaining loyal to our friends and allies."

"That's good to hear," said Barriss, "I could certainly use assistance, especially if I have to put my healing skills to good use when we get to the villagers."

"You're a healer?" Pumyra asked, surprised in her turn.

"Yes, a Jedi Healer," replied Barriss, "It's what I've always wanted to do with my career as a Jedi, heal injuries, cure sicknesses, and save lives. Of course, I've also always loved meditating in the Temple and studying ancient Jedi texts and library books from the Archives. All of those things are so much better than fighting in any war, especially a galactic war."

"So, you hate war, then?" said Pumyra.

"Jedi are taught not to hate," said Barriss, "But despite that, I _do _detest this war already, and I only hope that it doesn't irrevocably ruin the galaxy or permanently corrupt the Jedi Order. I hope _you_ don't like war, either, my friend."

"Oh no, I don't," said Pumyra, "Unlike the Mutants and the Lunataks, Thunderians do not revel in bloodshed at all. In fact, we try to spare and save the lives of our enemies, particularly if they're in need of redemptive help."

Barriss looked at Pumyra with wonder. "I can see we're going to get along splendidly, Pumyra." She offered her hand.

Pumyra clasped it with her own, starting a bond with the youthful Jedi Healer.

Just then, they reached the spot where Advance Squad and the villagers awaited them. Barriss and Pumyra leapt off the gunship.

"The villagers' transport has arrived, Captain!" said Barriss, "Let's get them on board!"

Meanwhile, behind Separatist lines, unbeknownst to Barriss and Pumyra, General Grievous and Tug Mug the Lunatak were planning out the strategy for the battle droids to follow on their side of the battle.

The droids told Grievous that they had hit Sector Five, and still hadn't encountered deadly force. Grievous said that Sector Seven was the logical place for the Republic to hit them with an ambush, and the Jedi couldn't have overlooked it. He ordered them to use their tanks to smash through the ambush, and not to let anything delay their attack on the main settlement.

Then a flight of droid fighters called him and said that they had hit a heavy Republic blockade, and they couldn't get through to provide air support.

Back on Republic lines, a clone Commander told Luminara that General Tiin's fleet successfully turned away the Separatist droid fighters.

"Excellent!" said Luminara. The she put a call through to Barriss and Pumyra. "Good news, Barriss. Master Tiin's fleet has come through again!"

"That is good news, Master," agreed Barriss. "I only hope it will outweigh the bad news I must report. There were more refugees than we anticipated. We got them all on board the transport, but there was no room for troops and I, or for Pumyra. Master, I know this wasn't what you had planned, but I can no more abandon my troops than I could abandon the refugees. And please don't send another transport; the enemy will be upon us before it could arrive. We will find a way to fight the enemy from here."

Luminara sounded a little sad when she said, "Barriss, may the Force be with you."

"And with you, Master," Barriss replied.

"I guess that you and your Master have a very good relationship, too, right?" said Pumyra.

"We usually get along very well," said Barriss, "But Master Luminara is a firm believer in the Jedi rule of no attachment, so she keeps our relationship on a strictly professional level."

"Nonetheless, she must care about you a lot if she sounds like that while wishing the Force to be with you," said Pumyra.

"Oh yes, she does, I have no doubt of that," said Barriss, sounding a little distant, as if she was meditating.

"Commander Offee," said the clone Captain, "Before you arrived, we had plans for an ambush. We were going to set off explosives at the narrowest part of the canyon – hopefully block the droids' progress, and make a stand."

"That sounds like a way to stop the enemy, for a while," mused Pumyra.

"That was the plan," said the Captain.

"But it also sounds like a last stand," Pumyra continued.

"I may have an alternative," said Barriss suddenly, "Seek cover."

Soon enough, the droids reached Sector Seven, and Advance Squad fired their blasters at them. The droids fought back with their Spider Tanks and Hailfire Tanks, until the blaster fire stopped. Then they continued to march forward.

The clone Commander reported that they had lost contact with Commanders Offee and Pumyra and the Advance Squad.

"Yes," said Luminara, looking sad.

The droids marched through that part of the canyon, passing what appeared to be the dead bodies of Barriss, Pumyra, and the clone troopers. A battle droid said to Grievous, "Sector Seven is cleared, General Grievous. Proceeding with the attack."

The droids marched on, not bothering to inspect the bodies, which would prove to be their undoing. For after they had left, first Barriss, then Pumyra, and then the clones opened their eyes and got up.

"Everyone all right?" asked Barriss.

"Yes, Commander," said the Captain.

"Then gather the explosives you had planned to use in the ambush and let's move out," ordered Barriss, "We have some climbing to do."

While they prepared their surprise attack, the Separatist droids engaged the Republic army. The clones and Luminara were dug-in and well prepared, but the droids were confident that they could overwhelm their enemies with their superior numbers.

Blaster and laser fire was exchanged from both directions in the canyon as the armies met. A Hailfire blew up an AT-TE and numerous clone troopers, while an SPHA-T did some serious damage to the droid ranks at the same time. Still, the droids believed that they had the upper hand. Until…

Blaster fire began to hit them from behind as well as from in front.

"General Grievous, we're being hit from behind!" exclaimed a droid.

"But how can that be?" asked another droid, "There was no one left alive in the canyon when we passed through!"

Pumyra almost snickered from her vantage point on top of the hills. These skinny battle droids reminded her more than a little of the Mutants, especially Monkian and Jackalman.

"Good job, men!" said Barriss, "Target the next tank in line and…fire!"

The clones opened fire on the droids again.

"Ready with the explosives?" asked Barriss.

"All set, Commander!" said a trooper.

The droids' attack was failing. Concentrated fire from behind hit their rear guard, and without support from the rear ranks, their forward progress was faltering. A battle droid commander called for a retreat.

Luminara and her troops charged the battle droids, boxing them in and blasting them to pieces.

Finally, Barriss said to her troops, "Stand by with the detonator…now!"

The battle droid commander's last words were "General Grievous, I think we walked into a trap!" Then the whole cliff came crashing down on the remaining droids. General Grievous was teed off, to say the least, and so was Tug Mug.

As Luminara helped her troops finish off the last remaining stragglers, a Lieutenant ran up to her and said, "General, look! Someone dropped the cliff on the Separatists!"

"But who-?" Luminara wondered for a second. Then, to her delight, she saw Barriss and Pumyra returning to her with their troops.

"Barriss! Pumyra! You're alive!" she shouted. "But how? I was sure that you and your troops were dead!"

"So were the droids," said Pumyra, "And that's what saved us! You should hear all about how Barriss outthought the droid army while we were out there!"

Barriss held hands with her smiling Master excitedly and started to explain her plan. "I remembered the lesson, Master – about how trying too hard to hide something can draw attention to it. So we played dead and let the droids see what they expected to see. They passed us by without a second glance. They never suspected that we were hiding in plain sight."

Barriss smiled proudly with Pumyra and Luminara.


	5. Clone Cadets

**A/N:** This is the first chapter of this fan fiction that will tell the story of an episode of _The Clone Wars_. For the sake of not making the story overlong, and because there are a few episodes I'm less crazy about writing about, not every Clone Wars episode will be told in story format in this story, although they usually _will_ be referenced in other "episode chapters." For example, I have already decided that "Supply Lines" and "Corruption" from season three will not be told in this story. And in many episode chapters, including this one, a scene or two from the TV show will be cut out for the sake of space and preventing easy boredom with reading my story.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Clone Cadets<strong>_

It was a dark and stormy night on the planet Kamino. Clone trooper cadets were training for the big day when they would join their brothers out on the battlefield. It would soon be time for the next million troops to be launched into the war. And on this particular evening, Jedi Master Shaak Ti and ThunderCat Cheetara were observing a squad of five cadets training in a simulation chamber called the Citadel Course.

Standing with them on the observation platform were two bounty hunters who had been contracted to assist with the training of the clones. It was a popular practice in the clone army. The clone commandos were being trained by Mandalorian mercenaries and bounty hunters, too. 75% of the bounty hunters were Mandalorian, in fact, but these two bounty hunters, a big-brained Siniteen named Bric and an Arcona named El-Les, were of the 25% that were not. El-Les was unusually kind and caring for a bounty hunter, while Bric was more strict and demanding. Cheetara wasn't certain which one of them she respected more.

"I thought that all the ARC troopers in the clone army were bred to be ARC's," asked Cheetara, "What makes these cadets eligible for the same talents?"

El-Les answered, "The Alpha-class Advanced Recon Commandos became so popular with the regular troops shortly after their activation, that many privates dreamed of being ARC troopers themselves. So a short while ago, the Kaminoans and the Alpha ARC's started a training program where ordinary troopers who distinguish themselves with valor in training as well as on the battlefield will be promoted to ARC trooper status."

"Sounds logical to me," said Cheetara, "Some of the positions and ranks of the ThunderCats are meritocratic, too."

"Uh, yes," said El-Les, who had no familiarity with Thundera, evidently, "Some of the Alpha ARC's think they're being cheated and robbed of their uniqueness by this program, but Skirata's Null ARC's couldn't care less; they're only interested in serving their adoptive father, and in getting back a full life span."

"Frankly," said Bric, "The Alphas and the Nulls alike are no concern of mine right now. What bothers me now is those losers down in the Citadel Course right now." He pointed down at the five clone cadets in their special training armor, moving through the chamber as best they could, while barriers went up and down, and battle droids of several different models were firing weak blaster fire at them.

One cadet stepped forward and fired a Z6 rotary cannon, a kind of minie-gun, at the droids, while the others provided cover fire. Just then, a computerized voice said, "This is Command. You must break enemy lines, and take the tower."

One of the cadets was listening to this carefully, apparently, and he started to say to the others, "Comlink just relayed orders from-"

"We all heard the orders, Echo!" exclaimed one of his brothers.

"Stop calling me that!" he replied, annoyed.

"Stop repeating every order!" another cadet insisted.

"Less yappin', more blastin'!" the cadet with the rotary cannon yelled at them. "Let's smoke these chrome domes and make our way to the Citadel!"

The cadet referred to as Echo shouted, "CT-782, you're breaking formation!"

"Just follow my lead, will ya!?" CT-782 replied angrily, and started to move forward again.

A cadet known as CT-00-2010 said, "He's clearing a path. I'm moving!" He started to run forward, but a very accurate blast very nearly got him. He was saved at the last second by the last cadet, who wielded a long DC-15A blaster rifle, who pulled him behind cover.

"Thanks, CT-27-5555," CT-00-2010 said, "That was close."

"It's Fives, the name is Fives," said the cadet, who, unlike Echo, seemed to like his name.

A cadet called CT-4040 joined them and said, "Yeah, five _pieces,_ if you don't keep your head down!" He meant it as a joke, obviously.

"How about we follow orders?" insisted Echo, "This is our last practice test!"

"Will you shut up with the instructions?!" screamed Fives, "You're not in charge!"

From the looks of things, to Cheetara, it seemed that none of them were in charge. She did like the fact that not all the clones were content to be referred to by the unit numbers the Kaminoans had given them, and took names for themselves. She said so to Shaak Ti.

"Yes," said Shaak Ti, "That _is_ one good thing about this particular unit, but right now, the important thing is that they seem to be having trouble. What do you recommend, Bric?" she asked the big-headed bounty hunter.

"Well," said Bric, sounding like he was mocking the cadets, "I'm no Jedi or ThunderCat, so forgive my bluntness, but I say they fail. Send them down to maintenance duty with 99 and the other rejects." He waved his hand dismissively.

"We can't fail them yet!" El-Les argued, "Remember, this is only a practice test. And besides, the Citadel Course was designed to be a difficult challenge."

"Although I don't agree with his sentiment," said Shaak Ti to El-Les, "Bric isn't wrong. These cadets are far from ready."

"I'll say they're not," said Cheetara, "Lion-O never slacked off like this when he was going through his anointment trials back on Third Earth."

On the field, the clones were still having difficulty. "I can't hit anything from here!" complained Fives.

"No," said Echo, "We have to follow orders!" A blast from a droid stunned him and pushed him to the floor.

"The one they call 'Echo' never adapts to the situation," remarked Shaak Ti.

CT-782 was still mowing down droids, but finally, a couple of supers snuck up behind him and shot him in the back, shoving him to the floor.

"CT-782 seems to follow his own path," said El-Les thoughtfully, "He can't do it all alone."

CT-4040 said to Fives, "You go ahead, I'll cover you!"

"I'm a better shot," argued Fives, "You go!"

"No, you go!" argued CT-4040 back.

A droid shot them both down.

"Look at those two," said an appalled Bric, "Argue on the battlefield, you end up dead. Uh, and the _last_ one."

CT-00-2010 was grazed by a blast again, and the hapless cadet stood up, dropped his blaster, and said to the approaching droids, "I surrender! I surrender!"

"Need I say more?" said Bric sarcastically.

"If these cadets can't get past their short-sighted selfishness, they will never come together," said Shaak Ti, "Unity wins war, gentlemen."

"Exactly," said Cheetara, "I couldn't agree more. The ThunderCats are a team, and we all play our parts like a team, which makes us strong. The Mutants and the Lunataks have never really had that strength, which makes them fools who repeat their past mistakes."

Shaak Ti looked at Cheetara. "Obviously, you and your kind are very well educated in honor and loyalty, Cheetara," she said reverently.

"Of course," said Cheetara, "Honor and loyalty are part of the Code of Thundera, along with justice and truth."

"Perhaps sometime, you can teach these stubborn cadets a thing or two about teamwork, Cheetara," suggested El-Les.

"Aw, don't bother," said Bric dismissively, "If their hired trainers can't convince them, I don't see how a stranger from the other end of the universe can do so."

"I could at least _try,_ Bric," said Cheetara, "Wisdom can come from unlikely sources as well as likely ones."

"Well, at any rate," said Shaak Ti, "It's time to close down the Citadel Course for the night." She touched a button on a screen, and said into a comlink, "99, could you please send a cleaning crew up here immediately?"

"Yes, mistress," said a clone's voice, "We'll take care of the mess."

"You should tell that 99 to drag away the mess called Domino Squad," said Bric, referring to the cadets below, and walked out the door.

"Who is 99?" asked Cheetara.

Shaak Ti explained, "Not every clone the Kaminoans have grown has been a success at being fit for battle. Some have weaknesses in their fighting talents, and some are physically unfit by deformities or mutations. 99 is a clone born with a few deformities, including a drooping face, a hunchback, and a limping walk, and he's unfit for ordinary combat, so he serves the Grand Army here, as a janitor and maintenance worker."

"I see," said Cheetara, "is that him down there, in the gray jumpsuit?"

Shaak Ti looked down. "Yes, that's him."

"Shall I go down and help him?" asked Cheetara generously, "I'm stronger than I look, and I am also very fast, as you observed at the Battle of Kamino."

"Thank you, but no," said Shaak Ti, "99 prides himself on being part of the Grand Army, despite his physical limitations, and doesn't like to be babied, even by his brothers. He's proud of his self-image."

"Oh," said Cheetara, sounding surprised, "Well, if he really has that much self-esteem, I suppose I can let him do the hard work himself."

Down below, while 99, a stooped, short clone with a shaved head was dragging away the downed droids, Domino Squad was moodily walking out with their weapons and helmets in their arms.

"We almost had it this time," said CT-00-2010.

"Oh yeah," joked CT-4040, "And we all look nothing alike, either."

"Sorry about the mess, 99," said CT-782 to 99.

"Uh, it's okay boys," 99 replied, "Nice try."

* * *

><p>Back at the barracks, most of Domino Squad's cadets were out of their armor and in their look-alike red cadet uniforms. CT-4040 was relating a weird story about a pretty girl to Fives, to which Fives responded that, "You've never even met a girl."<p>

CT-782 threw his helmet to the floor in frustration. 99, who had caught up with them, picked it up and said, "You know, you shouldn't worry, because most clones pass."

CT-782 patted his bald head and said, "Yeah, but not _all _of us, right, Shorty?"

99 did his best to ignore this wisecrack, which he took as an insult. CT-782 was his personal favorite clone in Domino Squad, although he loved them all as brothers, and he didn't want to break their good relationship.

Echo was saying to all of them, "Guys, we've got to follow orders! Come on!"

CT-4040, ever the joker, said with a flighty smile, "I don't know. I think it went rather well."

"Quit joking around!" said Fives impatiently.

"Can we please stop arguing?" complained CT-00-2010.

CT-782 was anything but interested in stopping the argument. "Can _you_ stop being _droid bait_ out there?" From then on, CT-00-2010 was known to everyone as Droidbait. "You're getting in my way!"

"Actually, _our_ way," corrected Fives.

CT-782 glared at him and said, "If you want to be the best, you've got to think like the best. And I'm thinking like an ARC trooper."

"ARC troopers follow orders," said Echo, typically.

"Not all the time," said CT-4040, "Just look at how embarrassingly disobedient the Null-class ARC's are. And some Alphas are prone to questioning orders, too, you know."

"Well, they _should_ follow orders all the time," said Echo, "Because we clone troopers are bred to follow orders."

"Care to repeat that, _Echo?"_ said CT-782 with heavy sarcasm.

A fistfight broke out between the clones. The other clones rooted one or the other as they fought. Suddenly, Bric showed up and pulled them apart.

"Cut it out!" he demanded. "If you two would focus on fighting droids as much as you do fighting each other, you might stand a chance out there!"

"Sorry, Master Chief," said Echo quickly.

CT-782 was less apologetic. "Well, Master Chief, maybe our problems come from our training. Maybe the commandos and the Null ARC's prefer their mercenary and bounty hunter commanders, but _I'd_ rather be taught by a Jedi, or even a ThunderCat, than some mercenary bounty hunter like you."

"Jedi and those ThunderCats don't have the time to train grunts like you," said Bric menacingly, "That's why they hired me."

The clone cadets quickly stood at attention. Bric addressed them with disdain.

"Listen, boys!" he dictated, "When you first started here, I had high hopes for you. Now, we're nearing the end of your training, and you haven't advanced nearly enough. Even this bad batcher, 99, has more sense than you guys do, and he's just a _maintenance clone."_

99 tried to shrug off this insult, too, but he felt he needed to stand up for his brothers. "You don't give them enough credit," he said as defiantly as he could manage.

Bric was unaffected by it. "You're all a waste of my time." He stormed out of the barracks without another word. CT-782 started to follow him, but Droidbait stopped him.

* * *

><p>A few days later, while Shaak Ti had some other business to attend to, Cheetara observed with El-Les and Bric as Domino Squad and three other cadet squads stood at attention in one of the training rooms. Bric stepped forward and addressed the troops.<p>

"Gentlemen, who wants to be an ARC trooper?" he asked them loudly.

"I do, sir!" they all replied as one person.

"You have to pass your final training first," Bric said, "I want you to meet Alpha ARC Commander Colt of the Rancor Battalion."

An ARC trooper stepped forward, dressed in experimental Phase II armor. He also wore a kama and a pauldron. In his proud voice, he said to the cadets, "I want you troopers to remember one thing, and that is, we are shoulder-to-shoulder on those front lines. Brothers! And sometimes we may quarrel, but no matter what, we are united. Rule one: we fight together. So who's up for the Citadel Challenge first? Let's start with the squad that finished the course in record time. ARC trooper time!"

"Think he means us, boys?" joked CT-4040 again. The others were getting pretty tired of his jokes.

"Bravo Unit, step up!" said Colt. A training squad in red and white armor stepped forward (Domino Squad's colors were green and white).

"Well, bravo for Bravo Squad," CT-4040 couldn't resist joking again.

CT-782 was clenching his fists. Besides being tired of CT-4040's jokes, he was jealous of Bravo Squad. _That should be _me_ up there_, he thought quietly.

Cheetara noticed this. It was interesting, how much this cadet was presently reminding her of Slithe, or Vultureman. He knew nothing of teamwork, at least not right now.

Colt instructed Bravo Squad to go to the Citadel Course and show the others how the work of an ARC trooper was done. The other cadets filed in behind them.

"Come on boys," said Echo, "Maybe we can learn something."

"Shut up, Echo!" said CT-782 through clenched teeth.

On the training course, Bravo Squad went through the challenge with no problems at all. They knew how to stay in formation, they obeyed their orders, and they had crack marksmanship when shooting the droids.

"We're better than these guys," said Fives, trying to lift the spirits of his brothers. It didn't work very well.

Bravo Squad finally made it to the Citadel's walls. The cadets used ascension cables to get above the guns on the Citadel's walls, and they ran up the steps, with one of them pulling up the red electronic flag, which turned green when it came out of the floor. Bravo Squad had passed.

On the observation platform, Colt, Cheetara, and the bounty hunters were watching the whole thing. Cheetara had to admit that Bravo Squad was everything Domino Squad wasn't, and wished the Dominos could be more like them.

"I'm impressed," said Colt to El-Les, "You trained them well. Who's next?"

"The Domino Squad," said El-Les hesitantly.

"Ah, and how are they?" Colt inquired.

El-Les couldn't give him a straight answer. Bric gave an amused grin. Cheetara just stood there and watched.

"We can do this, guys," said Fives, as Domino Squad rode the lift up to the training course.

"All we have to do is follow orders," repeated Echo.

When they reached the top, the departing members of Bravo Squad began to mock them. "Check it out, guys," said one of them, "Time to watch the dominos fall."

The "dominos" glared at Bravo Squad as they left.

"Begin the challenge," instructed Colt, "Let's not take it easy on them."

CT-782 immediately opened fire with his big gun, effectively breaking formation again. The other cadets were already in disarray as they tried to follow his lead.

Cheetara shook her head. El-Les tried to look on the bright side. "They're getting farther than normal."

"Maybe so," said Colt, "But they're sloppy."

"Oh, this is nothing," said Bric, "Give 'em their next set of orders and watch the chaos ensue. I'm telling ya, these guys just aren't ready."

Fives ran up to CT-4040 and said to him, "I flank left, you flank right!"

"Take it easy, I'm on your side," joked CT-4040, "Get it? _Your side_, huh?"

Fives hook his head and went on ahead.

"Pretty unorthodox," remarked a disappointed Colt.

Echo suddenly saw a droid aiming at Droidbait. "Droidbait, behind you!"

The droid shot Droidbait in a gap in his armor near his shoulder, and he fell over.

"Man down!" Echo shouted.

"Forget him!" yelled CT-782, "I'm breaking for the Citadel. Hurry!"

"Guys, I think he's injured," said Echo, noticing that Droidbait was in obvious pain.

"Leave him!" insisted Fives. Echo reluctantly did so.

Cheetara stared in disgust. "A ThunderCat would _never_ leave someone behind like that," she murmured.

"Neither would a clone trooper," said Colt, "It leaves us no choice."

"We're going to pass this time!" said CT-4040 excitedly. But then all the remaining droids stopped firing and shut down, standing limp in their positions.

"Okay, so I spoke too soon," CT-4040 said.

"That would be putting it mildly," said Colt, sounding very disappointed as he came down from the observation platform. "You broke formation, disobeyed orders, and you left a man behind. You broke rule number one."

"I'm sorry, Domino Squad," said El-Les, looking regretful, "This is an automatic failure."

Every cadet in Domino Squad looked more disappointed than Colt did, perhaps more than even Cheetara.

* * *

><p>Later, as they walked through the barracks, the two bounty hunters discussed the squad with each other while maintenance clone 99 secretly eavesdropped.<p>

"I've had enough," said Bric, "We've wasted enough time on those losers."

"Their failure is our failure," said El-Les, "I've put in a request to General Shaak Ti and Commander Cheetara to let them take the final test one more time."

"Why do you care about them?" Bric demanded.

"Why don't you?" argued El-Les.

"I care about getting paid," Bric replied.

"It's a shame the bounty hunter in you sees this only as a job," said El-Les.

"More like an impossible task," Bric muttered.

That last remark made El-Les wonder if Bric had once been proud of Domino Squad and really wanted them to succeed, and if Bric's irritation with their constant failures was a way of saying that they had let him down. He decided to tell Bric his own view on the cadets.

"These cadets will be the finest troops we've ever trained," he said, "I have faith in them."

"Faith?" scoffed Bric. "You can't be serious, El-Les."

"We should treat them as a special challenge, Bric," said El-Les.

"We should treat them as _failures,"_ Bric shot back. "Besides, I've already made a request that they be moved to cleanup and maintenance. That's all they're going to be good for."

"Well," said a resigned El-Les, "Then I guess the General and the Commander have a decision to make."

They both walked away separately. Their talk convinced 99 that now was the time to be direct with his brothers, especially CT-782, and convince them why they should work as a team for once.

* * *

><p>During this time, cadets Echo and Fives were paying a visit to Shaak Ti and Cheetara. The two women were standing with their backs to the clones.<p>

"General, Commander, may we have a word?" Echo asked politely.

"You are here to discuss your squad, aren't you?" said Shaak Ti.

"How did you-?" Fives started to ask.

"Uh, Jedi, mate," Echo reminded him.

Cheetara turned around first. "And I'm a ThunderCat with a sixth sense of my own, which can detect thoughts and feelings almost as well as the Force evidently can," she said. "But I didn't need it to sense the stress on your minds." She said this with surprising kindness, seeing how critical she had been of them and their squad the past few days.

Shaak Ti turned next. "And one need not be a Jedi to sense it, either," she said nicely.

"General, we would like a transfer to another squad," asked Echo.

"Bravo Squad, perhaps," suggested Fives.

Shaak Ti said, "I am a Jedi, which means that the individual and the group are one and the same, much like you clones."

"And as a ThunderCat," said Cheetara, "I'm part of a team that maintains loyalty between its members, and where every member has a part to play."

"Which is why Fives and I are looking out for each other," said Echo.

"As individuals," said Shaak Ti, "But not as a group. You are where you need to be. Solve your problems as a group, and not as individuals."

This interested Echo and Fives, and they promised themselves and each other that they would remember that during the final test.

"Now excuse me, please," said Cheetara, "I want to check up on Droidbait, and see how his shoulder's doing." She left quietly.

* * *

><p>In the infirmary, Droidbait's shoulder was being treated by El-Les. The bounty hunter had just told him about how he and the other Domino cadets were going to get one more chance to pass the Citadel Course.<p>

"Maybe I shouldn't do it," said Droidbait pessimistically, "I'm only a liability out there on the battlefield, nothing but droid bait."

"I don't think so, Droidbait," said Cheetara, "You're part of a team, and everyone in the team has a part to play. I think you need to think about what your part is in your role as a clone in Domino Squad, and concentrate on that."

"Listen to the Commander, cadet," advised El-Les, "She has more experience working within a team than you do. She already knows these things, and so do I. Domino Squad could benefit greatly from it."

After they finished checking his shoulder, the two of them left, leaving Droidbait to consider what his role was in Domino Squad.

* * *

><p>Later that night, as another of Kamino's rainstorms fell outside, CT-4040 was called to have a talk with Bric. He approached his Master Chief nervously. He had never liked the alien man any more than any of his brothers did, but he knew he had to bite the bullet and respect him if he wanted to get anywhere with anything on Kamino.<p>

"You wanted to see me, sir?" he asked him.

Bric's back was turned to CT-4040 for the moment. "Near as I can tell, you're the reason your squad's a failure," Bric said bluntly.

"Oh, well," said CT-4040, "I'll take that as a compliment."

Bric turned around. "It's all a big joke to you, right? Like those little nicknames you and your clone brothers give each other?" He took on an air of menace.

CT-4040 chuckled nervously. "Well, I could think of one for you right now, sir," he joked yet again.

"Oh, funny," Bric said sarcastically, "But I think it's all just a cover. You hate me, don't you?"

It figured, that Bric had to ask him _that_ question. "Oh no," he lied, "No, no, no, no. How could I hate you for doing your job? You're just pushing me, sir."

Now Bric started to get aggressive. "No. _This_ is me pushing you." He started pushing CT-4040 roughly toward a wall. "Come on, clone. Hit me! Hit me, you joker! Can't take anything seriously, can you? You're a real _cutup_, aren't ya? Come on!" As he said this last, he punched the cadet in the gut.

Resisting Bric's desire to be attacked back, the clone nursed his brief pain and said, "Thank you, sir."

"For what?!" Bric screamed, disgusted that this cadet would say that to him.

"For my name. Cutup," said the newly named Cutup, grinning. "I like the sound of it!"

Bric looked like he wanted to growl at him. "Out of my sight, cadet! One way or another, you'll be out of this army. Count on it!"

Relaxing, and relieved that he could stay in the army a little bit longer, Cutup resolved to do better as a soldier from then on as he walked back to the barracks.

* * *

><p>Even later, almost all of the clones had gone to bed, but not CT-782. He had had it with his squad, and now he wanted to escape it all. He was going to sneak out of Kamino and go rogue. He had heard rumors that some other clones had left the army occasionally. Some had become farmers or miners. Others became mercenaries or bounty hunters. The latter idea sounded good to him. He could still have fun blasting enemies that way.<p>

He opened his locker to get his stuff, and stared at his Z6 rotary cannon for a moment. Suddenly, he heard a clone's voice behind him say, "Hevy? Going somewhere?"

He turned around, and there was 99 standing there.

"Get out of here," CT-782 ordered quietly.

"You're going AWOL, aren't you?" 99 said intelligently.

"Just go back to sleep, 99," whispered CT-782, "This doesn't concern you."

"But," said 99, "you can't do this to your squad."

"My squad?" CT-782 echoed disbelievingly, "We're nothing but a bad batch! Failures! Like you." He turned back to his locker.

"Yeah, but how can I be a failure when I never even got my chance? A chance that you're throwing away?" 99 said, becoming very softspoken yet serious. "You're always trying to be the anchor, Hevy, you know, doing it on your own. Well, maybe you should embrace the fact that you have a team. See, I never had that. But you need them, and they need you. Why carry such a heavy burden with you, when you have your brothers at your side, Hevy?"

"Hevy?" said CT-782, now Hevy, "Stop calling me that! We're just numbers, 99, just numbers."

"Not to me," said 99 proudly, "To me, you've always had a name."

This made Hevy very thoughtful about his future.

* * *

><p>The next day, which had a somewhat clearer sky, the cadets of Domino Squad were getting ready for their final test, but CT-782 was missing.<p>

"Hey, where's CT-782?" asked Droidbait.

"Yeah, where _is_ CT-782?" echoed Echo.

"If he's not here, we will fail!" said Fives, as if everybody else didn't know that.

"Not today, brothers," their lost brother said from behind them. "Today, we pass. Oh, one more thing. The name's _Hevy."_

They all felt ready to go now. On the elevator lift, they had only a few quick but brotherly words to say to each other.

"Orders came in clear, mates," said Echo.

"Nothing to repeat, Echo?" asked Cutup.

"Not today, brother," said Echo.

"How's that shoulder treating you?" Hevy asked Droidbait.

"I'll live," said Droidbait cheerfully.

"We all know what we've got to do," said Fives solemnly.

They came to the top, alert and ready to go. All of their mentors except 99 and Colt were on the observation platform, watching the test, as usual. The droids and automated guns began to open fire.

The clone cadets ran into the chamber, keeping formation as they blasted droid after droid and gun after gun. Barriers and elevated platforms rose and fell, and droids kept popping up everywhere, but the brothers of Domino Squad got every one of them.

Crouching behind one barrier, they bolstered each other's spirits as they gunned down a few more droids.

"They seem to be working together," said El-Les, sounding pleased.

"I guess they listened to our advice, after all," said Cheetara, "The test isn't over yet, but I'm already impressed."

"Still early. A lot can change," remarked Bric.

They all noted how determined Bric was to remain a pessimist with Domino Squad.

In a short time, the clones finally made it to the wall that led up to where the flag was, on the pinnacle of the tower. They were becoming more and more confident in each other. Then Hevy told them to prep their ascension cables, and scale the wall. But when they looked for the ascension cables, they couldn't find them.

"Wait a tic," said Hevy, "Where are the cables?"

"They're not on our belts," reported Echo.

"Just when things seemed easy!" said Cutup.

"But we can't scale the wall without them," said Fives, again stating the obvious, "We'll fail the test if we can't do it!"

"What's going on? Where are their ascension cables?" asked El-Les.

"Must have gotten lost," said Bric, assuming responsibility.

Shaak Ti glanced at him.

"What did you do?" demanded El-Les.

"What have you done?" asked Cheetara angrily.

Bric responded, "I thought you had faith they'd pass, right? Well, the best pass, no matter what."

"You are no better than Safari Joe, Bric," said Cheetara, "You're just a bully who can't deal with anything going against the ways that you're set in!"

"I'm a professional bounty Hunter, lady, not a bully!" retaliated Bric. "Or if I am, it's perfectly natural for bounty hunters to be that way."

"It still makes you no less dishonorable," said Cheetara.

"I hold my own code of honor, Cheetara," he replied, "I'm not interested in the Code of Thundera, or the Jedi Code. And who is Safari Joe?"

"It's a long story," said Cheetara, "One I don't think you deserve to hear."

"Whatever," said Bric, turning back to the Citadel Course.

"Can we stop this arguing right now?" asked El-Les, "General, you have to stop this calamity on the Citadel Course. This is unfair to the cadets."

But Shaak Ti merely replied, "Adversity in war is a constant, El-Les."

"But Bric has cheated," El-Les almost begged.

Shaak Ti still wouldn't be swayed. "The enemy won't play fair, either."

El-Les hopelessly gave up and prepared to witness Domino Squad's ultimate defeat.

But it never came, at least, not then. Just after one of the cadets remarked, "So this is it?" Hevy said, "Not exactly. Those guns up there. We can use them as a ladder to get up to the top of the tower. Form a chain, and use each other to scale this face."

"Use the guns? Are you crazy?" said Echo.

"Trust me," said Hevy, "I know weapons!"

Droidbait, who seemed to have been inspired by Hevy's plan, said, "I'm going to draw their fire. You guys blast them!" And for once, Droidbait's tendency to get shot down first came in handy. He came out of hiding and distracted the guns on the tower for a few moments. Then the others joined him, and Hevy used his rotary cannon to knock out the guns. Then they started to climb up the guns, closing in on their goal.

"Well, I'll be," said a surprised Bric, "They're creative little clones, aren't they?"

"No unit has shown such ingenuity," noted El-Les, looking impressed.

The cadets of Domino Squad finished climbing the guns and ran up the stairs. Finally, the one in front grabbed the red flag and pulled it out of its base. It turned green, signifying their victory. At last, they had passed, and they all cheered and hollered their joy to the entire room.

"Bric," said Shaak Ti, smiling, "Your actions have brought out the best in these cadets. Looks like they were well trained. Possibly the finest soldiers I've ever known."

"Yes," said Cheetara, "I may not appreciate your version of honor, but it looks like you really _did_ know how to make these cadets learn to improvise and work as a team."

Bric looked a little reluctant to look joyous, but at least he conceded to saying, "Well, maybe you were right, El-Les."

* * *

><p>Not long afterwards, Bric and El-Les presented Domino Squad with graduation medals, one for each cadet. 99 was also present at the graduation.<p>

"Congratulations, you've graduated," said El-Les, "At ease." Then the bounty hunters left the room.

As the clone cadets started to follow them, Fives said enthusiastically, "Next stop, ARC trooper!"

"How about we face some combat first?" joked Cutup.

Hevy stayed behind for a minute with 99.

"You were right you know, about everything," Hevy said to 99 fondly.

"I heard you were quite the leader out there," said 99.

"No leaders," said Hevy, "We're a team, all of us, 99." He meant that he considered 99 to be a Domino trooper just as much as himself.

"The army's lucky to have a clone like you, Hevy," 99 said.

"Not as lucky as I am to have a brother like you," Hevy replied.

99 looked at Hevy wistfully. "Well, this is goodbye, I guess. Hevy ships out, and 99 stays here."

"Ah, we'll see each other again," Hevy assured him. "I mean, how else am I supposed to get this back from you?" He gave his graduation medal to 99.

99 smiled gratefully.

"You deserve it," said Hevy, "You're one of us." And with that, he went to rejoin his brothers.

99 smiled happily at the medal he never had the chance to earn.

* * *

><p>Many brigades of white-armored clone troopers stood at attention in one of Tipoca City's hanger bays as Shaak Ti addressed them.<p>

"Today is your graduation," she said, "Today you march out to fight the Separatists and the warriors of Plun-Darr, and restore peace to the Republic. Congratulations. You are no longer cadets. You are troopers. May the Force be with you."

An Alpha ARC trooper named Blitz stepped forward and shouted, "Attention! Helmets on!"

The troopers immediately obeyed this order. And then, carrying their DC-15 blasters in one hand, the next generation of one million more clone troopers marched out to board the Republic Assault Ships that awaited them in the hanger.

And Cheetara truly hoped beyond hope that these well-trained troops were as much up to the job as Bravo and Domino Squads, because this wouldn't be an easy war to win.


	6. Last Stand on Jabiim: Republic

**A/N:** This is the other chapter involving the Battle of Jabiim early in the Clone Wars. This time, it's told from the point of view of the ThunderCats and the Jedi, instead of the Separatists. The story is long and detailed in the four-part comic, **"Last Stand on Jabiim,"** so I have tried to abbreviate it here without cutting out too much. Enjoy!

* * *

><p><em><strong>Last Stand on Jabiim: Republic<strong>_

The ThunderCats and the Jedi didn't know it yet, although some of them suspected it, but the Battle of Jabiim was going to be one of the most hellish of all the early Clone Wars battles.

Several of the new AT-AT walkers were plodding through the mud with surprising ease as they fired their highly destructive laser cannons at the Jabiimites, and at the Monkians, Jackalmen, and Reptilians that supplemented them. Lion-O watched as one walker crushed a Monkian, a Jackalman, and two Jabiimi soldiers to death under its front foot. In his opinion, AT-AT's were more barbaric than the Mutant vehicle, the Fist Pounder, and that vehicle was brutal enough, according to what Panthro had once told him.

They soon came to the point where they were surrounding the surviving enemies and routing them. The ARC trooper who had been named Alpha wanted to teach the Jabiimi to fear the Republic, but Obi-Wan Kenobi insisted that would only serve to make them hate the Jedi more, so Alpha stood down.

"Master," Anakin Skywalker asked Obi-Wan, "if you're a general now, what does that make me?"

"My Padawan," Obi-Wan put it simply. "Now focus."

The Jedi continued to fight off the warriors of Jabiim and Plun-Darr. ThunderCats such as Tygra, Cheetara, Ben-Gali, Pumyra, and the ThunderKittens were participating in the fight, too. Tygra and Cheetara had argued against the inclusion of the ThunderKittens in this fight, but Ben-Gali and Pumyra reasoned that they might be helpful for keeping the "Padawan Pack" out of trouble and focused on their mission, and Lion-O concurred. Reluctantly, Tygra and Cheetara conceded. Snarf, who had to stay away from the battle no matter what, also disapproved, but decided that perhaps WilyKit and WilyKat were getting a little more mature, and could take care of themselves.

Alpha was of the opinion that the ThunderKittens and the Padawan Pack made the mission even more dangerous than it had to be, and wasn't ashamed to broadcast it over his comlink. One of the young Padawans complained about his attitude and the fact that he had broadcast it, but Alpha didn't care.

When the last of the Mutant warriors and Jabiimi soldiers were defeated, Alpha commented that all that was left for the moment was to interrogate the prisoners. He also said that it was puzzling that they had come across no battle droids, and Obi-Wan agreed with him, saying that it made him nervous.

Anakin and Ben-Gali were disturbed by the attitude of the Jabiimi natives they had captured. "The prisoners are _terrified_ of us, Master, even the Mutants," Anakin said to Obi-Wan.

"Especially the Mutants," Lion-O politely corrected him, "The Mutants are usually not known for their immense courage, not even when they stand up for something they truly believe in."

"One of the human soldiers took one look at my Bengal tiger-like appearance and accused me of eating children!" said Ben-Gali, clearly agitated.

"There is something that Ben-Gali and Lion-O must learn and Anakin must remember, " said Obi-Wan. "There are over a hundred thousand inhabited worlds in the Republic, and there are now only a few thousand of us. Billions of beings have never seen a Jedi. Millions have never even heard of our Order, or of the Force. And almost no one has heard of or seen a ThunderCat, let alone a Mutant or a Lunatak. I have had only several short glimpses of the people of Plun-Darr. When we _do_ appear, we can be killers, but also healers. Thank the Force for that."

"Speaking of healers," said Lion-O, "Pumyra! Where is Barriss Offee? She came to Jabiim, too. How come she isn't serving with the Padawan Pack, or any of the Masters? We could use her healing abilities, too."

Pumyra explained, "Barriss told me that she hates the really fierce and dirty battles like this, and prefers to stay behind friendly lines, not out of fear, for she's very brave, but because it hurts her to see the ravages of the worse battles, and because she wants to save lives off the battlefield as much as she can. Besides, her Master, Luminara Unduli, says Barriss has a tendency not to take insult or mockery lightly, and she's afraid that if Barriss goes up against that charismatic hothead Alto Stratus in combat, she might do something that she, or the whole Order, is going to regret for the rest of the war."

"I can certainly understand that," said Cheetara, "This sort of battle is not my idea of a good time. In fact, it's my idea of hell on earth, if you'll excuse the expression."

"I feel the same way," said Obi-Wan.

"Me too," said Lion-O. "Well, if Barriss prefers to do the humanitarian work rather than the fighting, she's entitled to it, although her skills as an older Padawan might lend a good hand to the younger Padawans."

"Possibly," said a human Jedi Master named Sirrus. "Young Offee is a much stronger fighter than she gives herself credit for, although I have to admire her humility in a Jedi Order where arrogance is becoming common within our ranks. Master Kenobi! Is it always this wet on Jabiim?"

"Unfortunately, yes, Master Sirrus," said Obi-Wan, "It hasn't stopped raining since we arrived. The storms make landing reinforcements nearly impossible."

"And yet, I am here, at your service," said Sirrus. "Although not all is good news. Aubrie was asked to train with Master Windu, and she finds it an honor. Now she's upset about the change in plans. Now, tell me about your civil war."

Obi-Wan showed Sirrus and everyone else present a holographic recording of a recent speech given by the Jabiimi Separatist Commander, Alto Stratus, denouncing the Republic and the Jedi harshly, declaring that they would fight to be free, and promising to send even the ThunderCats home in caskets, as well as the Jedi and the Republic clone troops. The Mutants, Monkian and Jackalman, were seen in the hologram with him, apparently acting as his partners in the battle.

A Jabiimi Loyalist Commander named Captain Gillmunn explained, "He took control during a coup last year. Killed most of the Loyalists in the Jabiimi Congress. Fortunately, a few of us escaped, including me."

"Captain Gillmunn has been Stratus' only opposition here, until we arrived," Obi-Wan said.

"But surely you should have been able to capture Stratus by now," said Sirrus.

Gillmunn said, "He's surrounded by many allies. He has a group of commandos, trained like the Republic commandos, called the Nimbus, and I heard that the Mutant leaders called Monkian and Jackalman have sworn loyalty to Stratus for some unknown reason, too. Their armies of Ape Men and Jackal Men support him also. But Stratus' _real_ ally is the Confederacy. We heard that he has promised Count Dooku mining rights in exchange for weaponry, and from what I've heard about Plun-Darrian greed lately, the Mutants could profit from this, too."

"We've destroyed a dozen outposts so far," said Obi-Wan, "But so far, we're still no closer to finding Stratus or his Confederacy hardware."

"We could end this quickly, if only you'd listen to my advice," said Alpha, sounding impatient.

"We are _not_ assassinating every political leader on the planet," insisted Lion-O. "It's not the Jedi way, nor the Thunderian way, and it shouldn't be your way."

"You're just going to end up killing them eventually," objected Alpha.

"Look, Alpha," said Obi-Wan firmly, "Pumyra and the ThunderKittens are delighted to be the ones to work with, and look after, the Padawans, because they can relate well to children. But if you can't be helpful to your superiors in any way, I'll send _you_ to work with the Padawans, instead. That will disappoint the youngest ThunderCats a great deal, and I don't think you're nearly as good around children unless they are _clone_ children."

"For an ARC trooper, that's a fate worse than death…" Alpha submitted reluctantly. But he went on about how they were "strung out," being carried farther away from shelter base, supplies, and the new walkers, every time they struck a new target. "We're slowed by the rain, and our communications is waterlogged."

"So what happens next?" asked Sirrus curiously.

"The Confederacy finds our weak spot, attacks in full force, and many clones and Jedi die, and possibly a few ThunderCats, too," said Alpha morbidly.

* * *

><p>At shelter base, the battle was underway again. Things looked clear for a moment, until a missile, possibly from a Hailfire droid, struck and obliterated an AT-AT. A Padawan reported that they were under attack. The sturdier AT-TE's were mired in the mud, and a clone pilot requested permission from a young Jedi Master to call down gunships. She denied permission, saying that atmospheric conditions were too turbulent, and they wouldn't make it in time.<p>

She then proceed to get the walker moving with the Force, whispering Yoda's old saying to herself: "Size matters not."

Anakin and Ben-Gali were approaching her position on a Republic military speeder just in time to see Alto Stratus and Jackalman murder her in cold blood, or maybe in hot blood, in Stratus' case.

"Alpha, take care of the others!" said Anakin, "I'll take mud-for-brains."

"Wait, Anakin!" shouted Ben-Gali, "We don't know how dangerous Stratus is!" He leapt off the vehicle, too, not far behind Anakin.

Anakin gave Stratus and Jackalman one chance to surrender, but they just beat him and ran away, preferring death to being political prisoners. Ben-Gali was surprised, and disgusted, by Jackalman's boldness, in particular, and attempted to stop them himself, smashing Stratus' shield to pieces with the Hammer of Thundera. Stratus nearly took Ben-Gali's head off with his sword, but Ben-Gali knocked its aim off with the Hammer, too. Ben-Gali growled at the stubborn warrior. But then, Jackalman came up behind and hit Ben-Gali on the back of the head with his club, knocking him down.

Stratus thanked Jackalman for the assistance and moved to kill Ben-Gali, but suddenly, something he couldn't see hit him with some kind of whip, taking away his sword and tossing it aside. Then the whip sent a magical fireball at the two Separatist warriors, causing them to retreat for a few crucial moments. Tygra became visible at that moment, picked up Ben-Gali, and began to leap away. Anakin got up and followed them.

"You really should watch whom you're whacking," Tygra wisecracked as a parting shot.

Stratus snarled, "Don't you dare wisecrack at me, scoundrel ThunderCat! I'll be ready for your little trick next time!"

"Secure the walkers!" ordered Alpha as he shot down droids.

Obi-Wan and Lion-O fought side-by-side. "Alpha!" yelled Obi-Wan, "Watch the Nimbus! They have repulsor boots!"

"I think the Mutants do too!" Lion-O followed up, "Stratus must be really generous if he's lending his weapons and equipment to Monkian and Jackalman."

"Or else he's really desperate," agreed Obi-Wan, "Many of the Separatists are not known for being close friends with each other, and they only work together in military and self-defense matters, usually. That's why some people on both sides of the war prefer to call the Confederacy the 'Separatist Alliance.' They'll help each other, but they won't join each other."

"Sounds just like Plun-Darr's politics to me," said Lion-O, "No wonder the Mutants and the Lunataks were so attracted to it."

Alpha and Obi-Wan exchanged orders and directions to defend their right and left flanks, and not to let the enemy outflank them. But they missed the fact that some commandos and Simians were placing charges very close to the walker they and Lion-O were defending from.

The charges blew up at the feet of the AT-AT, making it collapse to the ground. Obi-Wan ordered the troops to be evacuated, and called Anakin and Aubrie over to the walker.

Anakin and Aubrie said that they were on their way, soon joined by Ben-Gali, Pumyra, Tygra, and Cheetara, when suddenly, the walker exploded. It was consumed in a missile blast, and everything near it was apparently consumed, too.

"Lion-O!" yelled Cheetara. The ThunderKittens arrived a moment later and were equally aghast.

"Master!" yelled Anakin.

* * *

><p>A little while later, Captain Gillmunn reported to General Leska that General Norcuna's forces were wiped out near the city of Choal, and Norcuna's body was found there, brutally decapitated.<p>

Leska announced that now she was the highest-ranking Jedi on Jabiim, and after hearing about the latest movements of the Jabiimi forces, she ordered the mobilization of all their forces. She also ordered the Padawans to be sent with the resupply convoy. She wasn't ordering any more children to their deaths.

The battle continued, with almost everyone left alive fighting in it. Cheetara was getting tired from so much running about the battlefield, and she wanted to check up at the battlefield hospital. Anakin, the Padawans, and the ThunderCats and Kittens fought the battle droids without too much difficulty. Anakin was especially good at fighting them, although he insisted that it was always easy for a Jedi to fight ordinary battle droids. But none of the Padawans were enjoying this at all, and some of them were commenting about the war making so many of them unable to live to become Knights, let alone Masters.

Later, Anakin and the Padawans prepared to get the convoy moving again. The Padawans were talking to each other in ways that disturbed them, especially the Kittens. A Padawan named Warble walked up to Zule, a Masterless Padawan who had lost her entire left arm and now had a mechanical one, and started to ask her a question, but she interrupted.

"Warble, if you talk the entire trip, I swear I'm going to use my fingers to rip out your tusks," she said extremely rudely.

Warble would not be deterred, though. "How did you lose your arm?" he asked.

"Same way my Master lost his head," she replied with a stony face.

"I'm sorry," said Warble.

"Don't be," said Zule, "Glaive was the worst Master I ever had. Most days I wanted to kill him myself."

"In my professional opinion," said Pumyra, "you don't deserve to call yourself a Jedi, Zule! You have no honor, no manners, no kindness, and no love. All you care about regarding feelings is hate and anger! That's more like a Sith, or at least a Dark Jedi."

Zule laughed sarcastically. "You're one to talk, She-Cat," she replied, "What do you know about the Sith anyway? Nothing, that's what! And I can call myself a hateful and angry Jedi all I want, and you can't change that."

"Then you're the biggest hypocrite in the whole Order," announced WilyKit, who had overheard all this. "And don't talk to Pumyra that way, either! If she knows nothing about the Sith, _you _know _nothing_ about humanity!"

"Why you little brat-!" Zule growled, stepping forward, getting ready to pound both Pumyra and WilyKit with her artificial hand, but Tygra got between them, and Warble held her in place with the Force.

"Let me go, Warble, now!" she ordered furiously.

"There will be no in-fighting between us, and that's final!" Tygra announced sternly, "That's the way of the Mutants and the Lunataks, not the ThunderCats, and from what I know, certainly not the Jedi. Pumyra, WilyKit, leave her alone. It's best to take out your frustrations at a better time and place than this. And you, Zule, if you hurt any of the ThunderCats, you'll have to answer to Cheetara and me before you answer to your Masters. Is that clear?"

"Of course it is, Tygra," said Pumyra calmly.

"Fine. It's not like she's really going to literally carry out any of her threats, anyway," said WilyKit.

Zule merely snorted and said, "I'll submit this time, because I probably won't live through this battle anyway, and besides, I don't have any Masters, and I like it that way."

Tygra gave her a warning frown, and she finally stopped glowering at everybody and everything around her.

Elsewhere, other Padawans were getting on a little better. WilyKat watched as two young ones named Mak and Kass talked about the battle, death, the Force, and their feelings for each other. WilyKat was glad to see that at least some Jedi had genuine affection for each other. He wished his sister, WilyKit, could see this now.

* * *

><p>As the battle carried on a few days later, the Jedi and the ThunderCats were being troubled by mines spread out over the battlefield, something they hadn't expected the Separatists to be using. Kass ordered everyone to stand still, but Anakin insisted that they had to meet the enemy's attack with one of their own. Anakin used the Force to roll something over an exposed mine where a few Jackalmen and Nimbus commandos stood near, and killed them. Tygra tried the same trick with his invisibility, but Stratus meant it when he said he'd be ready for that trick the next time, and got a Simian and a Nimbus out of the way just in time. A Sullustan Padawan tried to use a dead commando's repulsor boots to his advantage, but he found them hard to maneuver around in. The ThunderKittens glided above the mud on their Space Boards as they threw their magic pellets at the enemy, dizzying them and making them confused. Pumyra tried some repulsor boots, too, and found them easier to maneuver around in than the Padawan did.<p>

But as the battle continued to ravage the land, the whole minefield suddenly blew up. Everyone escaped alive, and Anakin tried to kill Stratus again, but the Separatist Commander escaped.

Elsewhere, Leska had defeated the Separatists at Razor Coast, but suffered heavy losses, and she had found no sign of Alto Stratus. She continued to fight on and on with her troops, but there was just no end to the droid troops. Then, for a moment, she and her troops were distracted by some sunlight through the rain clouds. She made the mistake of enjoying it for a few seconds, and Separatist blaster bolts shot through her, fatally wounding her. Not long afterward, the same happened to all her troops. Before dying, she sent a telepathic message to the Padawans. "Run."

Anakin, the Cats, and the Padawans tried to enjoy a short break as the rain and lightning slowed a little. A Gand Padawan said that they shouldn't spend too much time celebrating, because, "The storms that kept us from leaving also prevented the Separatists from landing more forces. And unless my visor deceives, there's an armada approaching!"

There indeed were a few C-9979 landing crafts of the Trade Federation going off in one direction, probably to meet Stratus and the Mutants.

"But where are they headed?" asked WilyKit.

* * *

><p>At Cobalt Station, Captain Gillmunn contacted the Jedi and the Cats and gave them a running report. "All of the surviving clone troops and my Jabiimi Loyalists are falling back to a mesa south of your position. The Republic has planned a full-scale evacuation, but the transports can't arrive until the rain breaks again. Unfortunately, Stratus is on the move, with an army at least ten thousand strong, and you're the only soldiers between him and our evac zone."<p>

"What are your orders?" asked Kass.

"You don't have any," he replied, "Your General Leska has disappeared. There's no one left to plan any strategy, and my officers are in full retreat. Good luck-"

"We've lost his signal," said the Gand Padawan.

Anakin reasoned that they would have to slow the Separatist advance in order to evacuate in time. Mak said they were the mission's last hope, even though it was suicide. Kass said she'd go along with whatever everyone else wanted to do. There was silence for a few long seconds.

Tygra and Pumyra agreed that they didn't like the idea of having young children savagely cut down by the cowardly Stratus and Mutants, and said so aloud. Even Ben-Gali and the ThunderKittens didn't like the idea. But finally, Aubrie said, "I wasn't supposed to die here. I was supposed to train with Master Windu on Coruscant. My Master said I was destined for the Jedi Council."

Anakin and Ben-Gali offered to take Aubrie and Warble to the mesa, but she replied, "No. Since I was a baby, someone else has made all of my choices for me. Today, I get to make my first real decision, on my own. And I'm not going to make the wrong one. I'm staying to fight, in the battles to come."

Soon, all of the other Padawans agreed with her, even Zule and Kass. But Kass said, "But I promise we're going to bury Alto Stratus before we bury each other."

The Padawans readied themselves, each of them wishing the Force will be with them. The ThunderCats still didn't like the idea of children fighting such a suicidal battle, and promised to help them as best they could.

Then, Aubrie detected a hologram signal that was encoded for Anakin. It was the Supreme Chancellor of the Republic, to Anakin's amazement. Palpatine greeted him, saying that it took persistence to get through to him. He had heard about the dire situation on Jabiim, and he wanted Anakin and the ThunderCats to lead the evacuation efforts.

"I can't just leave my friends, sir," said Anakin, "They'll die."

"I agree," said Tygra, who was now the acting Lord of the ThunderCats in Lion-O's absence, "We could all die in this chaotic battle. I'm not ordering any of my friends to their deaths. Lion-O would've never done such a thing if he was here now."

"I know you do not want to hear this," said Palpatine apologetically, "But it's my educated opinion that your friends will die with or without you, I'm afraid. But we can't afford to let the evacuation turn to chaos. Anakin, I have put my faith in you time and again. You have never failed the Republic. Do not fail me now."

"Yes sir," said Anakin, "I'm leaving for the mesa immediately."

"Good," Palpatine replied, "I hope to see you soon."

"Anakin, he's right," said Aubrie, "You need to go."

"This isn't fair," said Anakin, "My place is here."

"So do the ThunderCats belong here," said Tygra, "And even if he is right, I must disagree with the Chancellor. My reasoning is that some of the ThunderCats lead the evacuation efforts with Anakin, while the rest stay behind, temporarily, to support the Padawans for as long as they last, and then evacuate in the Feliner at once."

There was silence for a second. "I'll stay behind for the moment," said Pumyra, "Even if I can't save their lives, at least I can prevent some of the Padawans from receiving a dishonorable death, although I wish they could all survive. Barriss is going to be heartbroken to hear this."

"There's nothing fair about this entire war," said Aubrie, "Just go, Anakin, before it's too late."

"We're staying with the Padawans too," said WilyKit.

"WilyKit!" said Tygra, "It's too dangerous for someone as young as you. And your firepower can't possibly match that of the Separatists."

"But I agree with Aubrie," said WilyKit, "For all our lives, we've been living according to what other people have been telling us to do, everyone from you, Panthro, and Cheetara, to Lynx-O and even Snarf. I think we need to make one of our own for once, and I want to help the Padawans for as long as I possibly can before I evacuate."

Tygra looked at WilyKat. He said, "Uh, yeah, I agree with Kit. We ThunderKittens have to stand up for ourselves too, you know. You can't treat us like kittens forever, you know."

Tygra sighed. "Yes, you're right. You kids _are_ growing up, and you need to choose your own things in lifé, too. I'm sure Lion-O would agree with that if he were here. Come on Ben-Gali! You come with Anakin and me. Pumyra and the Kittens will help the Padawans."

Ben-Gali looked like he had been hoping for more action, like he usually did, but he didn't question Tygra's orders. "I'm right behind you, Tygra!" he said.

"Anakin, before you go," said Aubrie, "will you take this with you? It's my Master's holocron." She handed him an elaborate cube, glowing blue like it was magical, or something.

"A 'holocron?'" inquired Ben-Gali.

"It's a device that holds secret, sacred information about the Jedi and their Order," explained Aubrie, "Only Jedi, and possibly Sith, can open them and access their information." She turned to Anakin again and said, "I promised my Master I would return it to the Temple. Will you keep that promise for me?"

"Aubrie," said a moved Anakin, "I...I don't know what to say."

"All I can say is that it's an honor to know that the Jedi have their own mystical secrets, too," said Tygra.

"Please, go," said Aubrie. "Live a good life, for those of us who are about to die, Anakin Skywalker."

Finally, Anakin and the two Tiger Cats got on swoop bikes and rode away to the evacuation, leaving Pumyra and the ThunderKittens to support the unfortunate Padawans until their deaths.

* * *

><p>On the battlefield, Stratus, the Mutants, and their forces fired lots of blaster fire and missiles at the remaining clone troopers, destroying most of them.<p>

"If we're lucky, a few of the Jedi children will have survived," Stratus said.

The ThunderKittens flew into sight on their Space Boards. "How dare you cowards murder innocent children!" yelled WilyKit furiously.

Stratus laughed. "A ThunderKitten, threatening us, assessing our morality? Listen, girl, we have our own morals. So don't tell us that you or any of these brats are innocent! And we'll see who the _real_ cowards are in a minute."

"I guess we will," said WilyKat, "Because _no_ ThunderCat is a _coward!"_

"Brave words, ThunderKid!" said Jackalman, "But this time, we have the advantage over you, for once. So even if you two survive to fight another day, you'd better get ready to say goodbye to your new kiddie pals, now!"

Pumyra leapt out from behind the group. "I'm also here to support the children, Mutant!"

One of the Padawans said, "We stopped being children weeks ago!" Then they all charged the Jabiimites.

"This is it! Cut them down!" said Zule.

A Padawan named Tae managed to dismantle a few of Stratus' new assassin droids, but then several more targeted him and shot him to death.

Elora, the Sullustan Padawan, shouted, "TAE! NO!" Then she suddenly slumped to the ground and stopped moving after seeming to have a major migraine.

"What happened?" asked Kass, "I didn't see her get hit."

"She wasn't," said Mak, "I think it was psychic backlash from her bond to Tae. She's dead!"

"I...I never knew that could happen to a Jedi," said Pumyra, evidently shocked by what she saw.

Warble recited some quotes from the Jedi Code while fighting. Suddenly, he was badly burned by a missile fired from a Hailfire droid sneaking up behind him.

"Warble!" shouted WilyKat.

"There is no death, there is the Force," were Warble's last words as he set some explosives to detonate as the Hailfire rolled over him. The Hailfire was blown to bits, but Warble was dead, too.

Zule went mad with the dark side of the Force, embracing hate and anger to kill all of her enemies, but she only succeeded in killing one commando before her victim brought down the last AT-AT on top of her.

Mak and Kass faced Stratus. "You're too tired to fight, Stratus, I can sense it. Give up," Mak begged him.

Stratus, ever the savage, said, "I'll sleep when I'm dead. How about you?" And he killed Mak as painfully as inhumanely possible with his sword.

"Butcher!" screamed Kass, hacking at Stratus' legs and torso, giving him a serious wound. Stratus cursed her. But behind her, yet another Hailfire was getting ready to file its whole stock of missiles in her's and Mak's direction. The dying Mak said he was too exhausted to hold it back, and Kass chose to die beside him, giving him soothing words about letting everything go just before the missiles hit them.

All of this was happening so fast that neither Pumyra nor the ThunderKittens were able to stop any of these deaths. Vaabesh, the Gand Padawan, said that her gas mask she used to survive in oxygen atmospheres was ruptured, and she would soon die. Aubrie offered to use her lightsaber for one more task, which she granted. WilyKit saw her ignite the lightsaber, as well as her own, and cut down the remaining Nimbus commandos. Then she stepped up to Stratus and condemned him for his crimes of war and murder. As WilyKit protested for Aubrie to run, Stratus retaliated by angrily accusing Aubrie of being responsible for starting the war in the first place, which Aubrie disagreed with, but she didn't get the chance to beg to differ, because he swiftly drew a blaster pistol and shot her in the gut.

She fell forward and plunged her lightsabers into Stratus' chest, killing him in return.

WilyKit was disgusted by Alto Stratus and his alliance with the Mutants. She knew that if Monkian and Jackalman were allied with him, they too were behind all this carnage. Then she suddenly spotted them standing not far away, looking almost morosely at Stratus' corpse. But they called for their remaining Mutant forces to retreat, which they did, and then they started to cut and run, too. Interpreting it as more Mutant cowardice, WilyKit started to give chase, but Pumyra stopped her.

"Don't worry about them right now, WilyKit!" Pumyra said. "Both sides of the war have lost this battle, and we've lost, too. We have to leave now, as we agreed we would, in order to live to fight another day. Come on!"

WilyKit glanced at the retreating Mutants, and consented to Pumyra's wishes. They rendezvoused with WilyKat at the Feliner, and they took off from that blood-soaked, horrific battlefront, to meet with the other ThunderCats.

Anakin and his ThunderCat friends rode to the rendezvous point, fighting the remaining assassin droids as they went. Partway there, their swoop bikes were destroyed, and they had to walk the rest of the way. Captain Gillmunn was still waiting both for them and for the transports. When Anakin and his friends arrived, they said that the Supreme Chancellor promised them an airlift. "And the Supreme Chancellor _always_ keeps his word," said Anakin as a transport finally arrived, guarded by some gunships.

Anakin and Tygra greeted the pilot and said they were impressed by how they flew through the storm, but they also wanted to know where the rest of the transports were.

"This is it!" said the pilot. "The Republic couldn't spare more, and we lost two of our ships in the upper atmosphere!"

"These few ships will never carry all of us!" said an agitated Anakin. "Call in additional transports! Open a comm channel to Coruscant!"

The pilot said it was impossible, because the atmospheric activity made them unable to get a message through, and another storm system was moving in. They had to leave immediately, or they would be grounded for days.

"I was told you're the last Jedi here," concluded the pilot, "You and your ThunderCat friends are the only authority I can recognize. What are your orders?"

Ben-Gali and Tygra couldn't help noticing that Gillmunn and his men could overhear this conversation, and that they didn't seem to like the way it was going. Suspicion crossed their faces. Anakin soon noticed it, too. Then they all looked at the leftover clone troopers that survived the battle.

"I don't like it," said Anakin, "But we are loyal to the Republic and the Jedi first and foremost, and my troops serve the Republic. I can't abandon them."

"But what about Captain Gillmunn?" Ben-Gali asked, "He's loyal, too. And the Code of Thundera speaks of how Thunderians must be loyal to their friends."

"Yes," said Tygra, "He's served us well. And I don't think it will bode well with the Republic if we leave him and his men here."

Anakin seemed to think about it for a moment. Then, with a slightly grim look on his face, he walked back to Gillmunn. Tygra and Ben-Gali didn't like the looks of this at all, and moved to follow him.

"Captain Gillmunn," said Anakin reasonably, "The Republic is figthing on fronts in hundreds of systems in the galaxy. Our forces are stretched thin and we need every trained soldier on the front lines."

Gillmunn was starting to show clenched teeth.

"You and your soldiers have been _very_ loyal to the Republic," Anakin continued, "But I can't leave my troops here to die. The clones must be evac-"

That was as far as he got before Gillmunn hit him on the jaw with lightning speed. _"Blast you!_ Blast you for proving Stratus right! We risked _everything_ for the Republic! And now you abandon us?"

Tygra hung his head.

Anakin rubbed his sore jaw and said, "This is your home. This is your war now."

Gillmunn drew his blaste rifle, and so did his men. "I don't have a home," he screamed, _"Your war_ destroyed it. We're commandeering your vessels to find sanctuary elsewhere."

"Grrrrr! How _dare_ you accuse the ThunderCats of owning this war!" Ben-Gali roared.

"Ben-Gali!" Tygra admonished him, "Peace!"

"Stand down, Captain!" said Anakin, "And order your men to do the same!"

But the Jabiimi Loyalists wouldn't hear of it, and began to advance on him and the ThunderCats.

"I order you to stand down!" Anakin ordered impatiently. He raised his gloved mechanical right hand and clenched it partway to emphasize his point. But to everyone's surprise, including his own, Gillmunn's throat and neck seemed to constrict inwards, as if invisible hands were choking him. He gurgled for a moment and fell to his knees.

Anakin had just learned one of the most infamous Force tricks in the book, one he would often employ in the future as Darth Vader: the Force Choke.

Tygra and Ben-Gali were aghast at what had just happened. Anakin was soon apologetic about his actions, and said so to Gillmunn. But the Jabiimite leader brushed him off. "Ungh, save...your...apologies..." he said, unable for the moment to sound as angry as before.

The Loyalist soldiers were shocked by this, and the Republic pilot suggested they leave before they recovered. Anakin ordered the transports to be load up with the wounded first.

By the time they were just about finished, Gillmunn and his men had recovered from their shock. "Run back to the Republic!" Gillmunn yelled, "But we will not forget this betrayal!"

Anakin and Tygra ordered the clones to hold their fire. Finally, they all took off in the transports, with Anakin and the ThunderCats looking down at the writhing mass of infuriated Jabiimites.

Tygra turned to Ben-Gali. "Ben-Gali," he said, "You know I love you like a brother. But you've got to learn to control your temper sometimes. It doesn't pay to get mad like that at someone who feels betrayed by you, even if what they believe about you is truly and completely wrong."

"Yes, you're right, Tygra," said Ben-Gali humbly, "I suppose I did speak out of turn. But even if I hadn't made that outburst, Captain Gillmunn still would never forgive us."

"Yeah, that's what I'm afraid of," said Anakin glumly. The ThunderCats couldn't hear it, but Anakin could still sense Gillmunn's rage, even from a great distance.

"We will _not_ forget..." Gillmunn said quietly. Then he started to cry.

A clone trooper said to Anakin that they were receiving a comm signal from Coruscant, now that they were clear of the planet, and that the Supreme Chancellor would like a status report.

Anakin said sadly, "Tell him it's over. The Battle of Jabiim is over, and we lost. We _all_ lost."

* * *

><p>On the planet New Holstice, Anakin and the five ThunderCats came to a medical hospital for soldiers and warriors. A Kaminoan was there, and asked if any of them were injured. Anakin said no.<p>

"Good," said the Kaminoan, "You can make yourself useful by heading to the nearest sickbay. We need all the Jedi Healers we can get."

A Jedi Master dressed like a Tusken Raider named A'Sharad Hett introduced Anakin and his friends to the sickbay, saying that he and his forces took Metalorn over a week ago. He dismissed his Padawan, Bhat, to do some sort of task, and took them all into the Jedi sickbay.

Barriss Offee was sitting by one of the many patients, slowly healing him of some ugly injuries. She smiled politely at them, especially Pumyra. Pumyra asked if Barriss could spare a moment from her patients, because there was some sad news to tell her. Barriss looked like she was bracing herself, and agreed to listen. Pumyra also said that in Luminara's absence, she would be glad to be a spiritual healer to Barriss if the news caused her terrible distress.

While Barriss and Pumyra walked off to discuss the loss of the entire Padawan Pack, the ThunderKittens followed them. Suddenly, Snarf and Snarfer came into the room, and Snarf asked, "What's wrong? And where's Lion-O? Snarf!"

Tygra said carefully, "Snarf, the Battle of Jabiim was horrific enough that you wouldn't want to hear most of the details."

"If it was that bad," interrupted Snarfer, "I'm just grateful the will of the Eye of Thundera prevented me from going, too!"

"Yes, that's true," said Tygra. "But as for Lion-O...He was caught in an AT-AT explosion along with Obi-Wan and Alpha. Apparently, he's gone, Snarf. I'm very sorry."

Snarf looked like he had been struck by lightning. He had known Lion-O for so long. He had once been Lion-O's nanny when he was a little boy. And he had always been his faithful companion and friend, never letting him down once. And now...

"Uh, excuse me, I need to be alone for a bit," he said, "Snarf! Snarf!" He sounded like he was starting to cry when he Snarfed this time.

Cheetara was as shocked as anyone to hear about Lion-O and Obi-Wan's apparent death. "To think that Lion-O has survived for so long through so many adventures," she said grimly, "And now a missile or some other weapon has destroyed him! And I hate to say it, but the Sword of Omens might have been destroyed, too! Think of it! What if the Eye of Thundera really is truly gone?!"

Anakin's face was clenched in concentration. "If only people could live forever!" he said, "Why do we have to be subject to death? Why can't every Jedi, clone, ThunderCat, and everyone else just _live_, and live in peace?"

"Believe me, young Skywalker," said Hett, "Many people ask themselves that question, even some other Jedi. Jedi Offee sometimes feels that way about people whom she can't heal, and about people who are murdered. But I'm afraid we cannot stop death. Not unless there's some kind of arcane knowledge of a secret way to do so that no recent Jedi has been able to rediscover. To try to stop death only causes more pain, more suffering. Do you find that difficult to accept?"

Anakin nodded sincerely. The ThunderCats felt the same way.

"Come with me, all of you," said Hett, "There's something I would show you."

Several Jedi and Kaminoans were gathered around a technological circular machine in the ground that emitted blue light upward. The light seemed to go on forever.

"Incredible!" said Anakin, "What is it?"

"A memorial," explained Hett, "The people of New Holstice created it eons ago, to honor all the Jedi killed since the birth of the Republic."

"What are they?" asked Cheetara, referring to glowing, insect-like things fluttering around inside the memorial.

"Memory moths," said Hett, "They are supposedly immortal. There has been one moth added for every Jedi who has ever been killed, and now, the monument grows brighter every day."

By this time, the other ThunderCats and the Snarfs had joined them, too, and looked at the monument with awe.

"I hear it...whispering," said Anakin, "It's repeating the same name, Oss Wilum, over and over again."

"Yes, any words you speak as you release a memory moth will be repeated in the whisper of that moth's wings forever," said Hett. "I thought there might be some names you would like remembered for all eternity."

He handed Anakin a special glass full of newly born memory moths. Anakin started to release them into the monument, and as he did, he started to recite some familiar names:

"Kass Tod...Mak Lotor...Tae Diath...Elora Sund...Vaabesh...Windo 'Warble' Nend...Zule Xiss...Aubrie Wyn...Obi-Wan Kenobi."

"And this one is for Lion-O," said Snarf. He released a memory moth of his own into the monument, and it started repeating Lion-O's name.

The others looked at Snarf questioningly. He said, "Well, I know ThunderCats aren't Jedi, but seeing as we have a new bond with the Jedi, I thought it was appropriate for a lost ThunderCat to be remembered here, too."

"I agree with your little friend," said Hett, "If the ThunderCats have pledged themselves to an alliance with the Jedi Order, then they too should have a place here."

Seeing the sense in this, Cheetara released a memory moth and said the name, "Jaga."

Tygra released one and said, "Claudus."

And so on with more of the valiant Thunderian ancestors.

* * *

><p>Somewhere else in the galaxy, Obi-Wan Kenobi was imprisoned in a dark, filthy smell with a mask over his face. There was something in the mask that disoriented and weakened his Force powers, and he found it difficult to move, especially since he was chained up by his arms and hands.<p>

In another part of the room, Lion-O sat unconscious on the floor, his back leaning against a wall, surrounded by ground-up Thundrainium, which made him weak, too. Neither of them knew exactly where Alpha was.

Right now, Obi-Wan was staring gloomily at the fearsome, cruel woman with two red lightsabers he had met before. Three of those ugly Lunataks were standing nearby, but for the moment, he wasn't concerned with them.

"You vowed to kill me the last time we met," he said to the dark lady.

"Patience," she said, "As I was saying to my Lunatak friends just now, it wouldn't do to break your body before I've broken your spirit. I came to give you more news of the war. The Republic has been beaten back on all fronts. Count Dooku and the Confederacy are on the verge of winning."

"We shall see," said Obi-Wan, not believing her.

"The Republic has already been crushed on Jabiim," continued the woman, "Even sweeter, we slaughtered all of the Padawans, including yours."

"LIAR!" yelled Obi-Wan, very upset to hear that.

She was very amused. So were the Lunataks. "I can see you are so easy to break, already!" laughed Luna.

"Yes," said Chilla, "And soon, we'll do the same to your friends, Lion-O and so-called Alpha."

Asajj Ventress leered. "Welcome to your 'dark side,' Obi-Wan Kenobi."

"Yes," said Chilla again, "Welcome to Dark Side."

Obi-Wan stared at her through his mask, feeling too weak to get at her. It appeared this truly was the lowest point in Obi-Wan Kenobi's life.

So far.


End file.
